Qeshm Island

Qeshm Island, largest island in the Persian Gulf, belonging to Iran. It lies parallel to the Iranian coast, about 14 miles (22 km) from the naval port city of Bandar Abbas, from which it is separated by the Khuran (Khoran) or Clarence Strait (Torʿeh-ye Khorān). With an area of 460 square miles (1,200 square km), its length and location give it a dominant position among the islands along the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian military assets on the island bolster Iran’s asymmetric leverage over the vital waterway.

Geography

Qeshm Island has an irregular outline and a generally rocky coast except for sandy bays and mud flats fringing the northwest. Irregular table-topped hills almost cover Qeshm; several are over 900 feet (270 meters) high and one, Kīsh Kūh, reaches 1,331 feet (406 meters). Salt is mined on the southeastern coast, and there are naphtha springs. The island is mostly barren, but cereals, vegetables, melons, and dates are grown, and there is fishing and weaving.

History

In the 14th century it came under the control of the ruler of Hormuz, who made Qeshm his capital. It held immense value for merchant trade and in the 17th century it changed hands several times between the Persian, Portuguese, British, and Dutch empires. In the 18th century it was caught up in the scuffles in the Persian Gulf region between the Persians, the Qasimi dynasty, and the Āl Bū Saʿīd dynasty, until the Persian Gulf came under British paramountcy through the General Treaty of Peace in 1820. With a general peace in place, the Persian Qajar dynasty was able to assert authority over the island. At the end of the Qajar dynasty the population of the island was predominantly Arabic-speaking and administered locally by a sheikh of the Banū Maʿīn tribe. In the 20th century it became fully incorporated into the Iranian system of government. A majority of the population now speaks Bandari Persian.

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Islands and Archipelagos

Military importance

Qeshm Island has been equipped by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with several naval facilities. Underground tunnels house fast-attack craft and submarines, while underground weapons silos for anti-ship missiles facilitate IRGC threats to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz without Iranian permission.