Musandam

Musandam is an Omani governorate at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, separated from the rest of Oman by United Arab Emirates territory. Khasab serves as its capital. Its coastline forms the southern shore of the strait of Hormuz, which narrows to 21 nautical miles, about 39km, between Oman's Great Quoin Island and Iran's Larak Island.

Both Oman and Iran claim twelve-mile territorial seas, so the narrowest section of the strait lies wholly inside their waters. Ships cross under transit-passage rules rather than on the high seas. That legal geometry makes Muscat the only other coastal state with standing over a waterway carrying roughly a fifth of the world's traded oil, and it is why Iran has sought Omani cover for a guided-transit regime.

Merchant crews, not warships, have taken the casualties in these waters. Seafarers have been killed off this coast by bombing and by torpedo, and the Royal Navy of Oman has taken on the rescue work. Musandam's position therefore gives Oman both bargaining power over the strait's future and direct exposure to its violence.