The Strait of Hormuz: A U.S.-Iran Maritime Flash Point

The U.S.-Israeli joint attack on Iran on February 28 has ignited a regional conflict, leaving one of the world’s most important waterways in the crosshairs. 

After Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a strike targeting senior Iranian officials, Tehran retaliated by attacking U.S. military bases across the region and threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At least three ships were targeted in the strait following the U.S. strikes. Hormuz, which is twenty-one miles wide at its narrowest point and abuts southern Iran, is a crucial choke point in the global oil trade. 

The U.S. government estimates that roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquified natural gas is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Though Iran has not formally announced the strait’s closure, authorities have reportedly warned ships not to cross the waterway. Gulf countries, which rely on unimpeded travel through the strait to access global oil markets, now face shipping disruptions. Ship trafficking data showed a 70 percent drop in vessels traversing the strait after the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Saturday. Meanwhile, as part of the United States’ Operation Epic Fury, the Donald Trump administration has targeted Iran’s navy, destroying nine of its warships and hampering its ability to fully block off Hormuz.

Escalating regional tensions have led to a surge in oil and gas prices. On March 2, Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, spiked by as much as 13 percent before easing slightly compared to last week. U.S.-traded oil is up more than 6.5 percent, too. Natural gas soared by 50 percent, driven in large part by gas giant Qatar Energies shuttering production after its facilities were targeted by Iranian drones. Other shipping companies have diverted their vessels around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the conflict, which experts say could result in higher shipping costs and delays.  

U.S.-Iran tensions have been escalating for weeks, as efforts to reach a new nuclear deal have been unsuccessful. Tensions spiked when Iran temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz to conduct live fire drills while Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi participated in nuclear talks with the United States in Geneva. The move raised concerns that Iran could use the strait to stymie global oil supplies as a tactic in response to U.S. aggression.

Satellite imagery released in February 2026 showed an influx in U.S. destroyers, combat ships, and fighter jets off the Mediterranean Sea—in particular, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the United States’ largest warship. The buildup marked the largest surge of U.S. military assets to the region since 2003. Flight data also indicated U.S. forces were surveilling the Strait of Hormuz ahead of the U.S. attack.  

Iran’s use of the strait as a bargaining chip is not unprecedented. Iranian officials threatened to close the waterway in April 2019 after Trump ended sanctions waivers for importers of Iranian oil, effectively eliminating a vital source of revenue for Tehran. The United States has long considered freedom of navigation a vital interest, setting the stage for confrontation should Iran try to block shipping in the international waterway. During the Iran-Iraq War, U.S. naval ships escorted oil tankers through the strait, and in 1987, U.S. forces fired on Iranian forces laying mines in the Gulf, killing four sailors.

The Iranian government has said it has the power to impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. While experts say it would be difficult for Iran to close the strait for a prolonged period, Tehran has other means to disrupt global oil and gas exports—including using small boats that can interrupt shipping and submarines that can lay mines. Whether it has the right to do so is a different matter, as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that countries can only make sovereign decisions up to 14 miles from their coastline. Iran signed, but never ratified, the UN treaty.