The Choking of the Strait of Hormuz
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 9, 2026 02:43 PM IST While larger vessels in Iran’s naval fleet may have been destroyed, Tehran has displayed its ability to restrict the passage of commercial ships along the Strait of Hormuz using small fast-attack boats, which analysts have dubbed the “mosquito fleet.” These boats, armed with missiles, guns and other weapons, form a cornerstone of Iran’s asymmetric capabilities. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has deployed these boats to maintain its chokehold on the crucial maritime route that accounts for a fifth of global energy supplies. Unlike the larger Iranian ships destroyed in the initial weeks of the conflict, these smaller boats are difficult to detect, and analysts argue that the US would require vast amounts of resources to combat this challenge. Their conceptualisation dates back to Iran’s realisation that the US can decimate its traditional navy as it did during operations in the Persian Gulf in 1988. Currently, Iran has deployed these boats to attack vessels passing through the critical maritime chokepoint by evading Iran’s blockade. Iran …
