The Strait of Hormuz is a key artery for the movement of global energy supplies.
Typically, about 20% of the world’s oil and gas passes through the Gulf’s narrow shipping lanes.
Iranian General Sardar Jabari said, “Tehran will now not allow even a drop of oil to leave the region.”
A time course of maritime traffic shows that the flow of ships in the strait has decreased since the start of the joint US-Israeli military offensive against Iran on February 28, 2026.
Blocking the strait could further inflate the cost of goods and services globally and hurt the world’s largest economies, including China, India and Japan, which are among the biggest importers of crude oil that passes through the waterway.
