The University of Basrah Organizes a Seminar on the Strait of Hormuz
The Marine Science Center at the University of Basrah organized a scientific seminar entitled “The Strait of Hormuz between Maritime Law and Emerging Challenges.”
The seminar aimed to analyze the legal and strategic status of the Strait of Hormuz in light of the rules of international maritime law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), while balancing these frameworks against the contemporary non-traditional challenges affecting navigation and regional security.
The seminar, delivered by Dr. Hassan Khalil Hassan, addressed the critical geographical position of the Strait of Hormuz, linking the shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf with the deeper waters of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It emphasized its importance as a primary maritime outlet for Gulf countries on both eastern and western shores. The seminar also highlighted seabed hydrography and depth variations, and their impact on constraining navigation routes, forcing vessels to pass through very narrow channels.
Accordingly, the seminar underscored the necessity of incorporating geomorphological considerations as a mandatory criterion in any international agreements regulating transit through geographical straits and narrow waterways, including those within Iraqi territorial waters. It also emphasized the importance of concluding bilateral agreements between Iraq and states overlooking such straits to ensure the security of Iraqi maritime commercial transport, alongside the need to seriously consider developing a national maritime fleet to rely on under exceptional circumstances.
Department of Media and Government Communication
