UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — A war room for India in an age of sanctions
Q1. The right of transit passage through straits used for international navigation, invoked in 2026 against attempts to regulate and toll traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, is codified in which one of the following?
- A. Part III of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982
- B. Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982
- C. The Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, 1958
- D. The Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, 1965
Q2. 'Operation Economic Outcast', under which four India-based companies were designated in August 2026 over Iranian petroleum trade, was announced by which one of the following?
- A. The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States
- B. The Secretary of State of the United States
- C. The United States Trade Representative
- D. The Secretary of Energy of the United States
Q3. In the August 2026 tranche of designations over trade in Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals, how many Indian nationals were designated alongside the India-based companies?
- A. Two
- B. Three
- C. Four
- D. Seven
Q4. Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), which endorsed the JCPOA, terminated the provisions of how many earlier Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear issue, subject to re-imposition?
- A. Four
- B. Five
- C. Six
- D. Seven
Q5. The shipping lanes used by tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz lie principally within the territorial-sea jurisdiction of which one of the following States?
- A. The Islamic Republic of Iran
- B. The Sultanate of Oman
- C. The United Arab Emirates
- D. The State of Qatar
Q6. Consider the following statements comparing the Strait of Hormuz with other maritime chokepoints and with its own earlier traffic levels:
1. Unlike the Strait of Malacca, which has geographically proximate alternatives, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be rerouted, as it is the only maritime gateway to the Persian Gulf.
2. The Strait separates Iran on the north from the Musandam exclave of Oman on the south, and at its narrowest is about 55 km wide.
3. Since the escalation of the crisis in late February 2026 transits have fallen by over 90 per cent, and the Strait carries nearly one-third of global oil trade.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Unlike the Strait of Malacca, which has geographically proximate alternatives, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be rerouted, as it is the only maritime gateway to the Persian Gulf.
- The Strait separates Iran on the north from the Musandam exclave of Oman on the south, and at its narrowest is about 55 km wide.
- Since the escalation of the crisis in late February 2026 transits have fallen by over 90 per cent, and the Strait carries nearly one-third of global oil trade.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. In August 2026 the Persian Gulf Strait Authority published a list of how many vessels declared to have broken its rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz?
Q8. In the context of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in 2026, the 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' refers to which one of the following?
- A. A joint Iran–Oman commission constituted to demarcate and jointly police the shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz
- B. A directorate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy tasked with escorting foreign-flagged tankers through the Strait of Hormuz
- C. An Iranian body constituted in 2026 to approve and administer transit through the Strait of Hormuz and to levy tolls on vessels
- D. A Gulf Cooperation Council secretariat set up to coordinate convoy protection for merchant shipping through the Strait of Hormuz
Q9. In the earlier round of designations over trade in Iranian petroleum that covered roughly twenty entities and that the Ministry of External Affairs stated it was reviewing, how many of the designated entities were India-based companies?
- A. Three
- B. Four
- C. Six
- D. Seven