US President Donald Trump is invoking his Venezuela playbook with a pledge to blockade Iranian ships. But Iran poses more complicated logistics, higher risks for American soldiers and a more resilient enemy.
An E-2D Hawkeye launches from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Epic Fury, in this photo released by the US Navy, on March 31.
Shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz continued to operate at reduced levels on Sunday, before President Donald Trump announced an immediate blockade of the critical maritime chokepoint by the US Navy.
The VLCC Agios Fanourios I and aframax Shalamar performed abrupt U-turns Sunday before entering the Iranian Larak-Qeshm island corridor, even as the VLCC Mombasa B (formerly Front Forth) completed its transit. The oil products tanker Khairpur is now heading into the corridor toward the Gulf following two earlier course changes.
Shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz continued to operate at reduced levels on Sunday, before President Donald Trump announced an immediate blockade of the critical maritime chokepoint by the US Navy.
The VLCC Agios Fanourios I and aframax Shalamar performed abrupt U-turns Sunday before entering the Iranian Larak-Qeshm island corridor, even as the VLCC Mombasa B (formerly Front Forth) completed its transit. The oil products tanker Khairpur is now heading into the corridor toward the Gulf following two earlier course changes.
Two Chinese supertankers loaded with crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz hours after a Greek vessel moved through the waterway, marking a significant uptick in oil shipping traffic days after a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran was announced.
President Donald Trump’s insistence that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the two sides head for diplomatic talks this weekend is having no effect, with transit still largely limited to Tehran-linked vessels.
Saudi Arabia’s oil exports via the Red Sea are holding steady for now, as the impact of a drone attack on its vital cross-country pipeline has yet to filter through.
Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a vital route for exports of oil, natural gas and other commodities from the Persian Gulf — remains severely constrained by Iran, even after a US-Iran ceasefire took effect on April 8.
A satellite view of the Strait of Hormuz Photographer: Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025/Getty Images
OPEC’s crude oil production plunged by the most in at least four decades in March as conflict in the Middle East throttled exports from key members, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has climbed to its highest levels since the early days of the war, as more countries secure apparent safe-passage agreements with Iran.
A vessel near the Strait of Hormuz on March 22, 2026. Photographer: Getty Images/Getty Images Europe
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has climbed to its highest levels since the early days of the war, as more countries secure apparent safe-passage agreements with Iran.
A vessel near the Strait of Hormuz on March 22, 2026. Photographer: Getty Images/Getty Images Europe
A Suezmax oil tanker hauling about 1 million barrels of Iraqi crude exited the Persian Gulf via a northerly route through Iranian waters on Sunday morning, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
Traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz has been picking up in the past week, with the seven-day rolling average for transits on Friday reaching the highest since the war started.
Three tankers broadcasting Omani ownership appear to have navigated the Strait of Hormuz by hugging their home country’s coastline, indicating a different route to a northerly path through Iranian waters.
A bulk carrier at Muscat Anchorage in Muscat, Oman.
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