The new road also allows access to the village of Tawi, where prehistoric drawings of boats, animals and warriors can be seen in the rock face.

Iranians export sheep and goats into the local port, from where the animals are dispatched to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in trucks.

On their return trip to the Islamic Republic, the sailors load their boats up with electronic goods and American cigarettes, arriving in Khasab after sunrise and leaving before sunset to conform with Omani immigration laws.

Since the trading is illegal under Iranian law, they must avoid the Islamic Republic's coastguard as well as all other shipping in the busy waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

The crossing is hazardous since the vessels, piled high either with livestock or with numerous boxes must avoid the path of the scores of oil-tankers which pass through the Strait in a transverse direction daily.

[8] Dhows from Khasab take tourists on trips to view the dolphins common in the waters around the Musandam, as well as to visit the fjords and Telegraph Island.