The US-Iran war: passage through the Strait of Hormuz

The first US response focused on getting ships moving again. Trump said the Navy could escort commercial vessels if needed,^[3] but the promise did not make passage routine: even when a ceasefire was announced in April, reporting found traffic remained very limited.^[14]

The two sides then imposed restrictions of their own. The United States began a naval blockade of Iranian ports.^[4] Iran and the White House later both described the strait as completely open, while reporting at the time still found passage constrained.^[5] Iran soon said it had restored strict control because the US blockade remained, and ships again came under fire.^[15] In May, the US began guiding vessels out through the waterway.^[6]

Restrictions and attacks continued in later months. Iran warned tankers to use approved routes or face a forceful response,^[16] and the British military reported three tankers hit in another round of attacks.^[17] The US reinstated its blockade of Iranian ports in July.^[18] Some operators reportedly declined US-guided crossings after attacks,^[19] and in August, US Central Command said it had cleared Iranian mines from internationally recognized shipping routes.^[7] By September, vessels were still moving through only in small numbers.^[8]

Reopening the strait remained tied to the wider negotiations. In October, Iran said its seven-day plan to reopen it was still on the table and that the strait would reopen if the United States left the region.^[20] On October 22, Iran said seven oil tankers had caught fire or been damaged in the strait after being hit by its forces or striking naval mines, and its Revolutionary Guard navy warned the United States of a wider response.^[9][21]

Iran later said four more tankers had been destroyed after hitting mines in an area south of the strait that its Revolutionary Guard had declared off limits.^[22] On November 1, its foreign ministry said Iran and Qatar had a two-day plan to reopen the waterway and resume nuclear talks if the United States met its demands, including the release of $6 billion in Iranian assets, according to The Guardian.^[11] The US strikes on Qeshm came hours before the midterm elections and left the region on edge.^[10][23] South Korea said it would seek parliamentary approval to extend its anti-piracy unit's area of operation to within about 650 kilometers of the strait, after criticism from Trump over support for the war.^[24] In early November, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said two more tankers and a tugboat had caught fire in the strait,^[25] and the US military said it was launching a task force to restrict Iran's land commerce, building on its naval blockade.^[26] Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged other nations to "step up" on the strait's security,^[27] and Iranian forces reportedly attacked ship navigation systems on Oman's island of Didamar, which the United States uses to help ships through, saying they were aiding the enemy's oil smuggling.^[28] On November 7, a US aircraft fired on and disabled a St. Kitts-flagged cargo ship that Central Command said had ignored warnings and tried to break the blockade after visiting an Iranian port.^[29]