Podcast HackHow Crucial is the Strait of Hormuz?By The Inquiry, Charmaine Cozier
In a Nutshell
This June 2025 episode of The Inquiry from BBC World Service explores the importance of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow naval passage in the Persian Gulf.
Favorite Quote
It's interesting that the fear among policymakers seems to be significantly higher, larger than it is in the shipping community, simply because the shipping community has seen so many of these conflicts erupt.
Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Security Initiative
Introduction
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints, a narrow passage through which a fifth of global oil supplies flow daily.
In this June 2025 episode of BBC World Service podcast The Inquiry, host Charmaine Cozier examines why nations resist closing or attacking shipping through the strait, even during periods of heightened tension.
Drawing on historical lessons from the Iran-Iraq War, insights into modern maritime complexity, and economic analysis, Cozier talks to experts about why the costs of disrupting commercial shipping far outweigh any potential benefits.
Here are the 3 key insights from this Hack
- 1.Attacking merchant vessels during conflict creates chaos without any military advantage
- 2.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc volutpat, leo ut.
- 3.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc volutpat, leo ut.
