00:01These are some of the latest images to emerge from the Strait of Hormuz.
00:07But it's far from the first time that a tanker has been the target of an attack here.
00:14Bullets and bombs have had repercussions on the other side of the globe.
00:21We're in the Strait of Hormuz. It's 40 kilometres long and it's the entrance to the Persian Gulf.
00:30In 1979, at the start of the Iran-Iraq war, all eyes are on the Strait.
00:36As the army of the newly founded Islamic Republic of Iran sparks worries worldwide.
00:44The threat of a new oil war is back.
00:48As Iraq's Saddam Hussein launches an attack on Iran, marking the start of an eight-year war,
00:56tankers make it through slowly, one by one.
01:04Everyone is fearing a total closure of the straits.
01:07It would wreak havoc to industrialised countries.
01:10Over half of the world's oil passes through here.
01:17And ships from across the world are at risk.
01:22A dozen tankers were attacked today.
01:26The Strait of Hormuz is divided between Iran and Oman,
01:31with only 33 kilometres separating the two at the narrowest passage point.
01:36There are two shipping lanes with a width of 3.7 kilometres,
01:40and waters are at most 60 metres deep.
01:48You could easily be ambushed, just like in western films.
01:53It's like a procession for ships faced with threats from Iran.
01:59In 1987, with the conflict still going on, and Lebanon having plunged into civil war,
02:07the United States step in, and France sends its largest aircraft carrier to the region.
02:17We are here to protect our interests.
02:22To prevent a blockade, oil-producing neighbours such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
02:29have sought other solutions to transport oil.
02:36Today there are land alternatives.
02:38Pipelines run from the east to the west of Saudi Arabia and from the United Arab Emirates.
02:43But the capacity of these pipes isn't the same as the sea routes.
02:48Over the past 40 years, the Strait of Hormuz has never entirely closed.
02:53A fifth of the world's oil, and a quarter of the gas supply, transits through the strait.
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