The confrontation may move to the world’s premier shipping lane.
As the military confrontation between the US and Israel against Iran kicks off, the inevitable seems about to happen: Tehran will try to blockade the Strait of Hormuz and upend the world’s oil shipments.
An EU naval mission official said today that vessels in the area have been receiving VHF transmissions from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
The messages are warning that ‘no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz’.
🇮🇷 BREAKING: “The IRGC has ordered a complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Ships are receiving this message via VHF radio”, reports Al Jazeera.
If Al Jazeera is right, the world oil trade might choke right now. That would be massive. https://t.co/esOt1JR0gc pic.twitter.com/Az7Cp2ZjIz
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) February 28, 2026
Reuters reported:
“The strait is the world’s most vital oil export route, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran had not formally confirmed any such order. Tehran has for years threatened to block the narrow waterway in retaliation for any attack on the Islamic Republic.”
Reuters: Ships are repeatedly receiving high-frequency messages from the IRGC stating that no ship is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/39dvhfj0n1
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@Alihashem) February 28, 2026
Mint reported:
“Some oil majors and leading trading houses have suspended crude oil and fuel shipments via the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation, Reuters reported, citing four trading sources.
‘Our ships will stay put for several days’, one senior executive at a major trading desk told Reuters.
The move highlights mounting concerns over the safety of one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.”
While some ships have halted their journeys, the maritime flows do not seem to have stopped entirely, according to Bloomberg.
UPDATE:
US Department of Transportation has warned commercial vessels to stay away from The Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.
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