TIME
What Is the Strait of Hormuz and Why Is It at the Center of the Iran War?
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by Callum Sutherland
Reporter
Mar 18, 2026 4:06 PM G00
A crucial passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which around a fifth of global oil production flows has become a key focal point of the Iran war.
Under the direction of the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the Strait of Hormuz is being used as “leverage” in Iran’s retaliation against the U.S. and, by extension, the rest of the world.
In his first statement since succeeding his father, Khamenei last week vowed to keep blocking the Strait, which has been brought to a virtual standstill, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to bring “death, fire, and fury” upon Iran if it continues to impede the flow of oil.
Since the U.S. and Israel first launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, at least 15 tankers have been targeted in the region, causing mass disruption to the global trade of oil and liquified natural gas—and prompting oil prices to surge.
Another tanker positioned off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) near the Strait was hit by an “unknown projectile whilst at anchor” and incurred “minor structural damage” according to a Tuesday report issued by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.
The latest incidents come after Iran threatened to attack any ships it considers associated with the U.S. and amid growing concern about potential sea mines.
Trump called for NATO allies to band together with the U.S. to secure the safe passage of vessels in the Strait, but the request—which came alongside a warning—was met with both caution and resistance.
As global leaders deliberate on their next steps, here’s what to know about the Strait of Hormuz, its grave and far-reaching importance, and the threat to the global economy if the passage is disrupted for an extended period of time.
A Thai vessel on fire after a drone strike in the Strait of Hormuz on March 11, 2026. Royal Thai Navy/AFP—Getty Images
What is the Strait of Hormuz?
With Iran to the north, and Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the south, the Strait is just 30 miles wide at its narrowest point.
Top oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) producers including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE. export the majority of their cargo through the Strait on tanker vessels.
“It's a critical node in the global economy for all sorts of commodities, energy and otherwise,” says Jim Krane, a fellow for energy studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Krane notes that the Strait also transits around 45% of global sulfur exports, which is needed in the production of fertilizer, and the refining of metals including copper, cobalt, and nickel.
Why is Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz—and how can it control the oil flow?
The Strait’s importance for global trade, especially for crucial resources, makes it a key geopolitical bargaining chip for Iran amid the ongoing conflict.
The Strait of Hormuz does not officially fall under Iran’s control. All vessels that wish to journey the waterway should be able to do so. But Iran has a unique capability, due to its physical proximity, to exert significant influence over the passage and effectively shut it down.
Along the Strait and nearby, there are oil terminals belonging to Iran and the UAE. The transit of that oil is dependent on the Strait being free to navigate.
Iran’s military build-up in the region also allows the regime to exert significant authority over the Strait, and what can ultimately pass through, according to Michael Eisenstadt, director of the military and security studies program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
“Iran has built up, in the last several decades, a very large number of area denial systems,” says Eisenstadt, citing “anti-ship cruise missiles, mines, submarines, surface to air missiles, and drones” as examples.
Amid reports that Iran has begun laying sea mines in the region—something the country’s officials have denied—attention has turned to how to best destabilize such threats. The U.K. said it has already deployed “autonomous mine hunting systems” in the region.
Should Iranian mines be present in the Strait, this would pose another major obstacle.
“De-mining is really laborious, painstaking work. It’s much easier to lay some mines than it is to get rid of them,” says Krane.
And it's not only upstream production and exports being disrupted, as numerous oil refineries and facilities have closed due to strikes or fear of potential attacks.
A smoke plume rises following a drone strike sparking a fuel tank fire nearby Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates on March 16, 2026. AFP—Getty Images
How has the disruption to the Strait of Hormuz impacted the price of oil?
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) oil report, Gulf producers exported 3.3 million barrels per day (mb/d) of refined products and 1.5 mb/d of LPG in 2025. At present, more than 3 mb/d of refining capacity in the region has already shut due to attacks and a lack of viable export outlets.
As a result, since the conflict began on Feb. 28, the price of crude oil has jumped to above $100 per barrel on several occasions, up from around $67 before the first U.S.-Israeli strikes.
The price of crude oil hit as high as $98 per barrel on Tuesday, slightly down from the figures reached in days prior, but still alarming for consumers and markets worldwide.
Joel Hancock, an energy analyst at investment firm Natixis CIB, says that oil price rises are already being felt at gas stations, particularly in the U.S.
“Within Europe, pump prices have increased, but not the same proportional magnitude as U.S. gasoline prices,” he says.
And the increase in the cost of fuel is also being passed on to the consumers.
“We've had several airlines announce that they're ramping fares up to pass on the additional cost of jet fuel,” says Hancock.
These far-reaching impacts largely boil down to both the lack of alternative export avenues and insurance concerns for vessels attempting to journey the Strait.
“The key point when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz is that there is really no other exit point for the magnitude of energy flow,” says Hancock. “The straight of Hormuz is a true choke point in the sense that you are seeing production being shut in, because there isn't really an alternative exit route.”
In short, even if journeys can be adjusted, alternative routes simply can’t handle the same volume of oil.
So far as insurance concerns, many companies have dropped war risk protections amid the conflict and the ongoing supply disruptions means that “oil is actually being lost from the market.”
Oil storages in the Gulf region are approaching capacity, with production halting as a result.
The U.S. gets very little oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Why are gas prices still going up?
Despite the U.S. being a net export of petroleum products, gas prices across the country have been hit with sharp increases since the start of the conflict, sitting at around $3.84 per gallon nationally on Wednesday, up from roughly $2.9 a month ago.
Gasoline prices are determined by the price of different petroleum products, including crude oil, which accounts for just under 50% of the price of gasoline.
While the U.S. is the top producer of crude worldwide, its price is set based on global supply and demand.
This means that disruptions across the globe will impact the cost of crude oil, which has spiked significantly since the Iran conflict began, thus having a knock-on effect and increasing the price of U.S. gasoline at the pump, too.
A man walking along the seafront as commercial vessels anchor offshore near Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on March 2, 2026. Giuseppe Cacace—Getty Images
How has Trump responded to the Strait of Hormuz coming to a standstill?
The President initially brushed off concerns regarding the rise in oil prices, referring to it as a “very small price to pay.”
But he has since warned Iran that it will be hit “twenty times harder” than it already has if the country continues to block the flow of oil.
The U.S. launched overnight attacks on Friday targeting Kharg Island, the critical hub of Iran’s oil exports. Trump framed the move as an attempt to pressure Iranian officials to end the blockade of the Strait.
“Our weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the world has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen not to wipe out the oil infrastructure on the Island,” said Trump, adding a warning that he may do so, should Iran continue to target vessels.
In an attempt to secure the Strait, Trump also called on world leaders to provide assistance by sending warships to the region. He has since accused NATO allies of making a “very foolish mistake” after several countries resisted his call to take action.
In a further attempt to aid the flow of oil, the White House announced Wednesday that Trump has signed a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act, temporarily permitting foreign-flagged vessels transporting oil and gas to travel between U.S. ports. The move will "allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely," according to press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The Jones Act, which refers to Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires that vessels transporting cargo between one U.S. port to another must be U.S.-built, as well as owned and crewed by U.S. citizens, aiming to serve as protection for domestic merchants.
Ahead of signing the waiver, the President remarked upon the Strait and the international reliance on it.
“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian terror state, and let the countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called Strait?” he said . “That would get some of our non-responsive ‘allies’ in gear, and fast."
Elsewhere on the international front, the IEA announced last week that its 32 member countries, the U.S. among them, have agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves.
Why might Trump find it hard to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
Despite the U.S. claiming Iranian military capabilities, both on land and at sea, have been “destroyed,” Iran is proving it can still effectively halt the Strait.
“It's just too easy to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz… the simplicity of disrupting the Strait is turning out to be almost like a nuclear deterrent from Iran,” says Krane.
“This is really what we always refer to as [Iran’s] nuclear option in a figurative sense. Before, it wasn't really a usable option, because they are also vulnerable [if the Strait is disrupted],” adds Eisenstadt.
“The U.S. could easily totally destroy [Iran’s] oil production capability,” he continues, but that threat might not work. “Iran could say ‘if we can't export oil, nobody does.”
Has Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz before?
Iran has threatened to close and restrict the Strait on numerous occasions.
During the Iran-Iraq conflict in the 1980s, the “Tanker War” saw both Iran and Iraq launch hundreds of attacks against oil tankers and vessels in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
The attacks in the Tanker War were much worse, experts note, in terms of the number of vessels struck and destroyed.
“You had hundreds of ships that were hit,” says Krane. “But the impact on the global economy was not nearly as dire. Current attacks are having a much larger impact on oil markets in the global economy with much less hostile action by Iran.”
Attacks in the 1980s notably did not bring passage through the Strait to a halt, adds Eisenstadt, highlighting the “intermittent” nature of the strikes back then.
Read More: These Are the Lessons of the 1980s Tanker War
Years later, in 2011, Iran’s then-Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi declared that oil would not pass through the waters if Western sanctions against Iran were widened. The sanctions were issued as a result of concerns over Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The same issue ignited during last year’s conflict, dubbed the “12-day war,” which ultimately saw the U.S. join Israel in launching strikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities.
During that conflict, Iran’s parliament voted to close the Strait—a largely symbolic gesture, given that it doesn’t have official authority over the passage.
The move, however, did cause jitters in the markets, with the price of crude oil futures jumping to $80 per barrel in the immediate aftermath of the vote—somewhat serving as a warning sign for the economic and trade turmoil that was yet to come.
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