Qeshm matters because it is the biggest island in the Persian Gulf and stretches along Iran's side of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage that much of the world's seaborne oil has to use. Since March 2026, Iran has used the waters between Qeshm and nearby Larak island to steer tankers through a checkpoint corridor, and the island's missile and air-defence sites can cover that route.

That's why the recent US strikes went after air defences on Qeshm. Whoever controls the sky over the island has a lot of say over the corridor below it.

Where exactly is Qeshm?

The island lies about 22 km south of the port of Bandar Abbas. The narrow Clarence (Khuran) Strait separates it from the mainland, and it runs parallel to the coast between Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh, according to Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Sources don't agree on its size. Iranica says it is about 122 km long, 18 km wide on average and roughly 1,445 sq km in area. Britannica gives 1,200 sq km (460 sq mi). Some other references put its length at 135 km. Every source agrees it is the Gulf's largest island.

Britannica also notes that Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have built several naval facilities there.

How does Qeshm control shipping right now?

Most explainers stop at "it's near Hormuz." Since March, though, Iran has tied the island directly to shipping traffic.

In March 2026, Lloyd's List Intelligence reported that the IRGC was diverting Hormuz traffic into Iranian territorial waters between Qeshm and Larak. Guards there checked ship details and sometimes charged fees, with one fee reported at $2 million. By early April, Lloyd's List found that all 57 transits logged since 13 March had taken this detour. Iran's parliament had also passed a bill to make the tolls official, and several countries, including India, China and Pakistan, were reported to be coordinating their ships' transits through the IRGC vetting system.

On 9 April, Iran made the route official with a redrawn traffic scheme. Inbound ships now pass between Qeshm and Larak. Outbound ships run just south of Larak, which is still inside Iranian waters and within reach of IRGC escorts and boardings. Iran's stated reason was that there might be mines in the main shipping lane.

So in practice, Qeshm forms one side of a toll gate.

How much oil passes by?

The figure you usually see is about 20 million barrels a day. The International Energy Agency estimates that about that much crude and fuel went through Hormuz in 2025. That was roughly a quarter of all oil traded by sea and about one-fifth of what the world uses.

The war has cut that. US Energy Information Administration data show flows fell almost 30% to 14.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2026. That is still a huge amount of oil, and since March most of it has had to pass through the corridor next to Qeshm.

Why would the US hit an air-defence site there?

US officials said the earlier strikes on Qeshm, on 3 November, came after two incidents. The IRGC fired at a US fighter jet, and Iran later fired a missile from Qeshm that threatened shipping. Officials described the targets as surface-to-air missile sites and said the strikes did not mean the war was resuming.

Air defences protect everything else on the island, including the missile launchers and the boats that police the corridor. Knocking them out makes it easier for US aircraft and drones to operate overhead.

Accounts of the 6 November strike differ. President Trump called the target an "anti-aircraft device" and said it was knocked out quickly. Iranian state media reported two missile strikes in the Suza area of Qeshm. Iran's army also said it shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the island. The US has not confirmed that, and US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said little beyond calling the situation "relatively calm."

Is there really an "underground missile city" on Qeshm?

That hasn't been proven. Many pages state it as fact, but the claim rests mostly on videos the IRGC itself released. No independent assessment has confirmed where the tunnels are, how big they are or what they hold.

The IRGC keeps the idea in the news. On 7 November, its spokesman announced plans to unveil a new underground missile production complex. He said weapons production would continue even under bombardment. That announcement did not say the new complex is on Qeshm.

Has Qeshm been fought over before?

Yes, many times. Control of the island has long meant influence over the mouth of the Gulf.

In 1301, the ruler of the Kingdom of Hormuz moved his court to Qeshm after a Tartar attack. The island then became an important dependency of the kingdom and often supplied Hormuz with drinking water.

In February 1622, English East India Company ships helped Persian forces bombard and capture the Portuguese fort on Qeshm before moving on to Hormuz. The Arctic explorer William Baffin was killed in the fighting.

From 1820 to 1863, Basidu on Qeshm was the Gulf base of the Bombay Marine, which later became the Indian Navy. A British coaling station stayed on the island until Reza Shah asked Britain to remove it in 1935, Iranica records.

Who lives there?

Qeshm is not just a military outpost. About 85,000 people live there, and it has more than 50 villages and four industrial areas. It has been a free-trade zone since 1989 and sits between two of Iran's largest natural gas fields.

Earlier fighting has already reached civilians. In March, Iran's foreign minister said a US attack had hit a desalination plant on Qeshm, disrupting water to 30 villages. Later that month, an Iranian health official said the plant was completely out of service and could not be repaired in the short term.

What isn't known yet?

  • What the latest strikes destroyed. The US and Iran describe 6 November differently. CENTCOM has published no strike statement, and the drone shoot-down claim is unconfirmed.
  • What the strikes are for. US officials call the Qeshm strikes defensive. But unnamed Pentagon officials told the New York Times that thousands of US personnel on more than a dozen ships were ready to resume major combat.
  • How the corridor works today. The toll and transit figures above come from March and April. Reports since then suggest Iran has changed the rules for some countries, but there is no up-to-date public count of who uses the route or on what terms.