In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is deploying an asymmetric strategy that combines innovation, surveillance, drones, and encrypted communications to influence the global balance of power.
The Strait of Hormuz is not just a simple maritime passage. Today, it is one of the most strategic flashpoints on the planet, through which nearly a third of the world’s oil passes. Behind this geographical reality lies a patient, structured, and deeply asymmetric Iranian strategy.
A Constraint Transformed into a Strategic Lever
For decades, Iran has operated within a constrained environment, marked by international sanctions and partial technological isolation. Far from acting as an absolute barrier, this situation has led the country to develop a culture of internal innovation, relying heavily on its scientific and academic elites.
Inspired in part by Russian doctrines and Chinese technological capabilities, this strategy has resulted in significant advances in two key areas:
- communications encryption,
- resilient telecommunications systems.
This endogenous development offers a major advantage: reduced dependence on Western technologies and greater resistance to foreign interception capabilities.
A defense doctrine based on controlled disruption
Unlike major conventional military powers, Iran does not seek direct confrontation. Its doctrine is based on a logic of asymmetric deterrence, centered on its ability to disrupt, slow down, or even block strategic flows.
The Strait of Hormuz thus becomes a major geopolitical lever. Iran has gradually built up a capability there based on:
- the dispersion of assets,
- stealth,
- operational saturation.
Even before the recent tensions with the United States, Iran had implemented a highly structured active surveillance strategy. This strategy relied on a network of surveillance frigates operating in coordination with dedicated aircraft, notably P-3 Orion-type aircraft. This sea-air combination provided detailed, near-real-time knowledge of movements in the strait.
The Stealthy Expansion of Drone and Submarine Capabilities
For over a decade, Iran has invested heavily in drone technologies. Today, its capabilities in aerial intelligence have reached a level comparable to certain international standards.
These drones enable:
- continuous surveillance of maritime corridors,
- real-time targeting capabilities,
- low-cost projection that is difficult to trace.
At the same time, Iran has developed a fleet of small tactical submarines, often designed for small crews. These units, discreetly stationed in island facilities, are dedicated to sabotage, mining, and intelligence missions.
Added to this is a particularly sophisticated concealment capability: equipment, logistical caches, and combat swimmers are integrated into a network of islands scattered throughout the Persian Gulf, making their detection extremely complex.
An invisible war of communications
One of the most sensitive challenges lies in controlling communications. Iranian intelligence systems now combine advanced encryption capabilities with sophisticated jamming devices, reaching a level of complexity comparable to certain Western technologies.
But the most puzzling innovation lies elsewhere: in their methods.
Iran still uses methods inspired by Soviet doctrines, based on master documents that are regularly updated. Radio communications rely on coded references such as page, paragraph, and line, allowing instructions to be transmitted without ever stating them explicitly.
This system offers several operational advantages:
- extreme resilience against interception,
- constant ambiguity for adversarial intelligence services,
- the ability to rapidly update reference documents.
Before each operation, multiple versions of these documents are distributed. Consequently, even in the event of interception, it becomes virtually impossible to identify the version used, rendering the intercepted data largely unusable.
Added to this is a critical element: messages related to authorities can be harmonized through “common signals,” making their interpretation even more complex for an outside actor.
Toward a new balance of maritime power?
The situation in the Strait of Hormuz illustrates a profound shift in the international balance of power. Faced with dominant conventional powers, actors such as Iran are developing hybrid strategies that combine technological innovation, asymmetric warfare, and control of critical areas.
The stakes are no longer merely military. They are economic, energy-related, and informational.
In this context, even a minor disruption in the Strait could trigger immediate global consequences:
- a sharp rise in energy prices,
- disruption of supply chains,
- increased geopolitical tensions.
Iran is not necessarily seeking to close the Strait. It is seeking to make it clear that it has the capability to do so.
And in today’s strategic balance of power, the ability to cause disruption is sometimes as valuable as power itself.
