The Military Hubs
A view of the shoreline on Iran’s Qeshm Island on April 28.Asghar Besharati/Getty Images
Qeshm Island. At a whopping 580 square miles, Iran’s largest and most populous island sits near the Strait of Hormuz and Bandar Abbas, one of Iran’s main ports. Its strategic location makes it the perfect spot for Tehran to advance its regional agenda, while its expansive underground tunnel network and ability to deploy submarines directly into the Gulf have transformed it into a key base of operations for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Qeshm also serves as a staging ground for Iranian forces targeting global shipping. The IRGC uses the massive island, with its several small ports and marinas, to impose Iran’s will on the strait, whether by charging tolls on commercial vessels or attacking ships attempting to transit the thoroughfare.
The island’s significance for Tehran is only matched by Iran’s ability to defend it. According to Andreas Krieg of King’s College London, Qeshm would be one of the hardest islands for the United States to seize, as its vast size would stretch U.S. forces thin. “If you were trying to take some of the smaller islands, you might need 4,000 or 5,000 boots on the ground,” said Krieg, an expert in Middle East security. “If you want to go for something like Qeshm Island, you’re probably looking at 10,000 troops and above just to land.”
At the same time, Qeshm’s close proximity to Iran’s mainland would keep U.S. troops in range of Iranian weaponry, including missiles, drones, mines, and artillery. “Sustaining drone fire is bad, and ballistic missiles are bad, but artillery fire, they can keep that going forever,” Krieg added, stressing that Tehran would have no difficulty resupplying its forces.
Larak Island. All commercial vessels know of Larak. The 19-square-mile outpost is the closest island to the Strait of Hormuz. Although Iran has historically used Larak to monitor global shipping and host IRGC activity, its role has exploded in recent months, largely due to its unique location.
As part of Iranian efforts to exert control over the strait, Tehran has required ships to use a narrow route along Larak’s northern coast. This has given the island gatekeeping control over the entire corridor and bestowed an outsized role on the small territory.
Larak is therefore one of the most likely targets of a potential U.S. assault. “Control of the island would provide a strong platform from which to monitor and secure maritime traffic while constraining Iran’s ability to influence movement through the Strait,” Quilliam wrote.
Hormuz Island. As its name suggests, Hormuz Island sits at the mouth of the strategic waterway. Iranian officials have turned it into an observation outpost, giving the regime critical intelligence about what is usually one of the world’s busiest thoroughfares; prior to the war, around one-fifth of global oil and natural gas shipments passed through the strait. Like Qeshm, Hormuz Island is also located close to the Iranian mainland, keeping it in range of Tehran’s eyes and weaponry.
Of the three strait-based islands, Hormuz holds the least significance. Whereas Qeshm and Larak have expanded their influence, Hormuz has largely kept to the shadows. And unlike its neighbors, it also has the reputation of being a popular tourism hot spot for its striking valleys and red beaches.
Still, Krieg argued, “If you really want to make a difference, you’ll probably have to take all of [the islands],” since the IRGC does not operate out of a single hub. “Maritime militias act as a decentralized network,” with thousands of platforms, both manned and unmanned, Krieg said. “So taking a single island is not going to make a major difference.”
