On the Strait of Hormuz, BBC finds seized ships and shark fishermen as uneasy calm returns
It's a sweltering summer's day and fishermen are unloading their catch on the docks. One proudly holds several baby sharks tangled in his nets. Shark sandwich is a local delicacy, he explains. Another rides off with two large fish strung over his motorbike. In many ways this looks like an ordinary fishing port, but the docks are in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most vital shipping lanes and a key focal point of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
This is the first time journalists from a UK broadcaster have visited the Iranian side of the strait since the conflict began. When the US and Israel launched attacks on 28 February, the Iranian regime responded by attacking Israel and neighbouring Gulf states hosting US forces and turned its geography into one of its greatest sources of leverage. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) began firing on commercial ships attempting to go through the strait without its permission, effectively making the waterway impassable. Seafarers from around the world were stranded and oil prices surged, pushing up the cost of energy and fuel, along with a vast range of goods that are shipped around the world. The US retaliated with a blockade of its own, targeting any ships using Iran's Gulf ports.
As a result, these waters have been too dangerous to fish for months. Many fishermen stopped going out, while others continued, knowing they were heading into a battlefield. Now, weeks after Iran allowed the partial reopening of the strait - under a ceasefire agreement with the US that is mostly holding - the sea is calm once more and fishermen are returning. One of them, Abdol Rahman, took the BBC through the strait for a close-up view of how the war has affected life in and around Bandar Abbas.
As we sailed through the strait, two container ships seized by the IRGC in April, at the height of the conflict, came into view. At the time, the IRGC said the vessels had endangered maritime security "by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems". Despite the ceasefire, the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas, which were flagged to Panama and Liberia respectively, have not been released. Dozens of other cargo ships could be seen offshore, waiting for permission from the Iranian authorities to pass through the strait. As we approached Hormuz Island, 8km (five miles) off the coast of Bandar Abbas, our guide Rahman pointed out an old fortress overlooking the sea. Its weathered red walls are a reminder that control of the strait has been fought over for centuries.