Three small islands located at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil and natural gas shipments, have become a focal point in the expanding U.S. military campaign against Iran. The islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb, seized by Iran in 1971, are key to Tehran's ability to control passage through the strait, through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas travels in peacetime.
Recent U.S. strikes have targeted two of these islands, Abu Musa and Greater Tunb, renewing attention on their disputed ownership and strategic significance. Despite their combined landmass totaling only about 10 square miles, their location along the strait's deep-water route makes them disproportionately important.
Abu Musa, the largest of the three, functions primarily as a base for Iran's Revolutionary Guard. From this island, the paramilitary force has deployed fast boats and missiles used to harass shipping, as well as air defense systems. Greater Tunb Island serves a similar military function, while Lesser Tunb hosts a military presence.
Iran took control of the islands on November 30, 1971, two days before the formation of the United Arab Emirates, from which the territory would become part of the UAE. At the time, Iran was a key security ally of the United States, and the seizure drew little international pushback. During the 1980s "Tanker war" in the Persian Gulf, Iran utilized these islands to monitor shipping and launch vessels for mining operations or direct attacks on maritime traffic. U.S. military estimates suggest Iran attacked over 160 ships during that conflict. To date, more than 50 attacks targeting vessels and oil rigs have been recorded in the current escalation, including instances where the U.S. has fired on ships accused of attempting to breach its blockade of Iran.
Some analysts have speculated that U.S. forces might attempt to seize the islands, a move that could be technically feasible given the presence of U.S. paratroopers and Marines in the region. However, military experts warn that any occupying force would be highly vulnerable to Iranian missile and drone attacks. "Without prepared, hardened fortifications to provide cover—even with air support from nearby naval assets—force protection would be an enormous challenge," noted Brandon Carr, an analyst with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He added that Marines could face severe limitations in projecting power into the strait under such conditions.
In recent years, the United Arab Emirates has sought international backing for a negotiated resolution to the islands' ownership dispute, lobbying both China and Russia to include language in joint statements supporting a peaceful settlement through diplomacy or international courts. This diplomatic effort has angered Tehran but has largely been overlooked by the international community.
"What the world called a bilateral territorial dispute was, from the beginning, a strategic claim on a global chokepoint," wrote Emirati legal scholar Noora Mohamed Al Murry in April. "Managed ambiguity, in a waterway this consequential, is not a neutral position. It is a choice with a price, and the world is now holding the invoice."
Columnist Isabel Oakeshott, writing from Dubai, suggested that the UAE, which hosts U.S. forces and has itself been targeted by Iranian fire, may seek to reclaim the islands once the current conflict concludes. The escalating U.S. military campaign could force a resolution to the long-standing territorial claim, mirroring a warning issued by the Shah of Iran in 1971 about the potential for the strait to become a global "nuisance."