Khorramabad / Tehran (Labnews Media LLC) — A 2025 academic study published in the journal Spatial Planning demonstrates how Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz have enabled Tehran to significantly expand its maritime territorialization under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Authors Ali Amiri and Hojjat Naderi show that Iran has used eight islands to establish a system of straight (direct) baselines. This has substantially enlarged both internal waters behind the baseline and Iran’s overall maritime zones outward into the sea. In addition, seven islands possess their own territorial seas, six of which are contiguous with the mainland, resulting in a “double expansion” of Iran’s territorial sea in parts of the Gulf.
The study concludes that without these islands Iran would have been forced to rely on the normal baseline, leading to a marked reduction in its maritime territory in favour of southern Gulf neighbours. The islands therefore play a decisive role in strengthening Iran’s sovereignty and maritime jurisdiction in one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for global energy flows.
The analysis also highlights bilateral agreements — notably with Saudi Arabia — that have created special circumstances affecting the legal status of certain islands such as Farsi Island.
This paper should have been known to Trump. Published in 2025, the study provides a detailed, cartographically supported examination of exactly how Iran leverages its islands for maritime territorial claims in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf — a region of paramount strategic importance for U.S. policy, energy security and freedom of navigation.
