Geography
In News: A U.S. Navy warship fired a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat coming straight at it during a tense encounter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz
- The waterway separates Iran and Oman, linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
- The Strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction.
- Most crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq – all members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – is shipped through this waterway.
- It is also the route used for nearly all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the world’s biggest LNG exporter, Qatar.
Background
- Iran and world powers agreed in 2015 to the nuclear deal, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
- In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, raising tensions across the wider Middle East and sparking a series of attacks and incidents.
- Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a pause since March.
- Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has been running advanced centrifuges and rapidly growing stockpile of enriched uranium.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) Consider the following pairs: (2022)
Regions in News Country
- Anatolia – Turkey
- Amhara – Ethiopia
- Cabo Delgado – Spain
- Catalonia – Italy
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
- Only one pair
- Only two pairs
- Only three pairs
- All four pairs
Q.2) Consider the following pairs: (2018)
Regions sometimes mentioned in news Country
- Catalonia — Spain
- Crimea — Hungary
- Mindanao — Philippines
- Oromia — Nigeria
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
- 1, 2 and 3
- 3 and 4 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 2 and 4 only
