ExplainedMiddle East
Qeshm Island explained: why the US keeps hitting Iran's biggest island in the Strait of Hormuz
American jets struck Qeshm on Monday night, the first attack on the island since June, and Iran warned of a 'new battlefield'. What the island is, why it sits at the heart of Iran's grip on Hormuz, and why India is watching.
The short answer
Qeshm is Iran's largest island, about 1,491 sq km, lying just off the mainland at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the channel that in normal times carries nearly a fifth of the world's crude oil trade. It is home to about 1.5 lakh people, a free trade zone and mangrove forests, but also to Revolutionary Guards naval units, drone bases and tunnels for missiles and mines. US officials say Monday's strikes were limited and defensive, aimed at a missile system that fired on a US aircraft. Iran says it is ready for talks but warned of a response 'without geographical limits'. For India, which imports about 88% of its crude, anything that flares up around Qeshm feeds into oil prices.
Where is Qeshm?
Right at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. Qeshm is a long, narrow island off Iran’s southern coast in Hormozgan province, about 135 km from end to end and roughly 1,491 sq km in area. That makes it the largest island in the Persian Gulf.
At its closest point the island is only about 2 km from the Iranian mainland, separated by a channel known as the Clarence or Khuran Strait. Its main town, also called Qeshm, sits on the eastern tip, about 22 km from Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest port. Oman’s Khasab, on the other side of the strait, is about 60 km away.
Who lives there?
About 1.5 lakh people, according to the 2016 count, most of them in fishing villages and small towns. Iran made Qeshm a free trade zone in the early 1990s, and it has ports, shipping yards and fisheries. Its salt caves, rock formations and the Hara mangrove forests made it the Middle East’s first UNESCO Global Geopark in 2006.
The island has long been fought over. In 1622 Persian forces, with help from the English East India Company, captured it from the Portuguese, whose old fort still stands.
Qeshm at a glance
- 1,491 sq km AreaThe largest island in the Persian Gulf.
- 135 km LengthIt runs along Iran's coast at the mouth of the strait.
- 1.5 lakh PeoplePopulation at the 2016 count.
- 2 km From the mainlandThe gap at its narrowest point.
Why does it matter militarily?
Because it is the main base for Iran’s sea war in Hormuz. Analysts describe Qeshm as the chief platform for Iran’s “asymmetric” naval power: small fast boats, drones, coastal missiles and mines rather than big warships.
The Revolutionary Guards set up a naval drone base on the island in 2013. In 2021 they showed off what they called an “underground missile city”, a network of tunnels near the southern shore, and a Guards surface combat brigade is stationed there. Tunnels on the island are said to shelter anti-ship missiles and mines. From Qeshm, Iran can watch and threaten almost every ship entering or leaving the Gulf.
During the war, Iran was reported in March to have forced ships through the narrow Khuran channel between the island and the mainland, bringing them right under its guns.
Has Qeshm been hit before in this war?
Yes, several times. On 7 March, a week into the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, a desalination plant on the island was bombed, cutting fresh water to 30 villages. Tehran blamed the United States and called it a crime against civilians; Washington and Israel denied it. Iran then hit a desalination plant in Bahrain. Another strike on the island was reported at the end of March.
Monday’s raid was the first US attack on Qeshm since June. US officials said an American jet struck a Revolutionary Guards surface-to-air missile launcher after a missile was fired from the island at a US aircraft over the strait. They called the strikes limited and defensive, meant to protect commercial shipping, and not a return to full-scale war. US Central Command has made no statement.
What has Iran said?
It is talking peace and threatening war in the same breath. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that any American mistake would open “a new battlefield in the war” and that Iran’s leaders had decided on “a response without geographical limits”. “The ball is in America’s court to prevent war,” he said. The Revolutionary Guards said they had brought down three US drones near the strait.
At the same time President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would seek to end the conflict through dialogue. “Consultations through mediators are very intensive,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. Qatar-led indirect talks ended on Monday without a breakthrough, though a draft proposal is still circulating. Donald Trump wrote that “Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!”
Why should India care?
Because Qeshm guards India’s oil route. In normal times nearly a fifth of the world’s crude oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and India imports about 88% of the crude it uses, much of it from Gulf producers. The strait has been all but shut since the war began.
That is why a few blasts on an island most Indians have never heard of move markets in Mumbai. On Monday Brent crude fell more than 7% on hopes of a deal; after news of the Qeshm strike it turned higher in Asian trade on Tuesday morning. Every swing in crude reaches India’s import bill, the rupee and, in time, the price of diesel and cooking gas.
What to watch next
Whether the strikes stay small. Washington says these are limited, quiet raids, and Tehran says it wants a deal. But both sides are now firing at each other around Qeshm again, on the day Americans vote in the midterm elections. If the Qatar-led talks make progress, the island may fall quiet. If not, it is the most likely place for the next round to begin.