War on the Rocks – Iran has consciously adapted the operational logic of the Chinese anti-access and area denial strategy to its own resource constraints. It has extended that logic through proxy forces across two of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints — the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb — and constructed a denial architecture that is incomplete by Chinese standards but sufficient for Iran’s strategic purposes. This architecture now operates across three layers: denial of the forward basing infrastructure from which U.S. power projection begins, denial of access through two interlocking maritime chokepoints, and area denial within the Persian Gulf itself. Each layer is imperfect. Together, they compound to a sufficient deterrent.