{"id":113793,"date":"2026-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/2026\/04\/01\/why-the-red-sea-playbook-wont-work-in-hormuz\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:00:00","slug":"why-the-red-sea-playbook-wont-work-in-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/2026\/04\/01\/why-the-red-sea-playbook-wont-work-in-hormuz\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Red Sea playbook won\u2019t work in Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the UAE joins Western nations in pushing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it\u2019s time to <\/strong>ask whether the naval playbook could even work<\/strong>.<\/strong> The Wall Street Journal <\/a>reports<\/a> that Abu Dhabi is pushing for a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force, reviewing how its own military could participate \u2014 including mine clearance and support operations \u2014 and has urged Washington to seize Iranian-held islands in the strait, including Abu Musa. Bahrain is sponsoring the resolution, with a vote possible as early as tomorrow, the paper says.<\/p>\n

The UAE is extra edgy after an Iranian drone <\/strong>struck a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker<\/a><\/strong> while <\/strong>anchored at Dubai Port<\/strong>, resulting in a fire aboard the vessel. The strike may have triggered an oil spill in the area, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said. No injuries were reported, and Dubai authorities have managed to extinguish<\/a> the resulting fire. <\/p>\n

The problem is that Western nations are<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>trying<\/a><\/strong> to reopen Hormuz with a playbook that <\/strong>already failed once<\/strong>, when they tried to re-open the Red Sea route to the Suez Canal in the face of the Houthi attacks on shipping that began in fall 2023. <\/p>\n

The Red Sea campaign burned through USD 1 bn in defense spending<\/strong>, saw the loss of ships, and still carrier operators abandoned the route rather than use it. And Hormuz is harder by every measure: The danger zone is up to five times larger than Bab Al-Mandab and Iran operates as a full military force with missiles, drones, mines, mini-submarines, and swarm boats in the same battlespace. Analysts<\/a><\/strong>expect<\/a> months of sustained operations just to stabilize flows.<\/p>\n

Trump looks set to declare \u2018victory\u2019 and walk away: <\/strong>\u201cWe will be leaving very soon,\u201d he told reporters in the Oval Office overnight. The White House said a couple of hours ago that Trump will deliver a televised address at 9pm Eastern time on Wednesday, and he\u2019s already told he\u2019s willing to end the war without reopening the strait, leaving it to others.<\/p>\n

Washington is calling on<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>China<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 the largest buyer of Gulf crude \u2014 to help<\/strong>, while <\/a>Nato<\/a> and <\/a>European<\/a> allies have declined to commit forces. Russia and China could veto the UNSC resolution, and France is proposing a different version.<\/p>\n

\n

No reroute, no half-measures<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no \u201csteam around the cape\u201d alternative to the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, which carries roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG, alongside <\/a>critical commodities<\/a> from food to metals \u2014 volumes that <\/a>can\u2019t be rerouted at scale<\/a>.Iran is looking to turn the strait into its version of the Suez Canal \u2014 complete with a toll system \u2014 and Gulf states fear any diplomatic resolution would hand Tehran a formal say over the waterway. <\/p>\n

The risk is that fighting makes things worse before it makes them better.<\/strong> Any military operation would need to control not just the waterway but its 100-mile length, potentially with ground troops. And the UAE could end up absorbing escalating Iranian strikes, eroding investor confidence, and struggling to rebuild ties with a neighbor that outlasts the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Red Sea disruption forced ships to reroute, while Hormuz leaves them nowhere to go<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2608],"tags":[2538,2609,2607,2552],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-113793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-lede","tag-enterpriseam","tag-shipping-maritime","tag-the-lede","tag-trade","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"c75bb7c1-8730-4a3b-879b-40cbf888ee42","order":"2","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/3\/1509.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Hormuz isn\u2019t the Red Sea \u2014 and that\u2019s the problem","related_issue":[113790],"teaser":"The Red Sea disruption forced ships to reroute, while Hormuz leaves them nowhere to go"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy the Red Sea playbook won\u2019t work in Hormuz - 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