New Arrangements for Transit through the Strait of Hormuz from the Perspective of International Law: From Innocent Passage to Safe and Secure Passage

Security and legal developments, particularly the emergence of new threats arising from the aggressive military actions undertaken by the United States of America and the Israeli regime on 28 February 2026 (9 Esfand 1404) against the territory and territorial sea of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the objective of destroying its naval forces and rendering the country’s territorial sea defenseless, have made a fundamental reassessment of the effectiveness and dynamism of the traditional regimes governing the strategic Strait of Hormuz inevitable.
Against this backdrop, and adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, the present article argues that the minimum adequate response to the new circumstances requires upgrading the legal regime governing the Strait of Hormuz from a passive regulatory model based on innocent passage to a positive and proactive management mechanism based on safe and secure passage. Accordingly, the study first prioritizes an examination of the concepts, historical development, and theoretical foundations of the legal regimes governing passage through straits used for international navigation. It then elucidates the rules governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz in light of the classical rules of the international law of the sea. Subsequently, given the inability of classical theories to adequately respond to recent security developments, the theory of safe and secure passage is advanced as a new legal arrangement governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Emphasizing the theoretical and legal foundations of the theory of safe and secure passage, this study maintains that such a regime, as a coherent normative arrangement complementary to the right of innocent passage, establishes a rational relationship between the right of passage and the coastal State’s protective rights through a “normative balance prioritizing preventive protective measures,” with a view to enhancing both the security of the coastal State and the continuous safety of navigation.