Strait of Hormuz Closed
Iran says it has reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz and fired on commercial shipping, declaring the passage closed until a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports ends. The announcement was followed by mixed messaging — Tehran said conditions were returning to a “previous state” while the White House insisted the strait was “completely open,” leaving captains and insurers to decide whether transit is safe. Pakistani mediators are reportedly trying to organise fresh U.S.–Iran talks, and Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to about 60% gives multiple powers a stake in any resolution. (apnews.com) (abc7ny.com) (pbs.org) (newsable.asianetnews.com)
Iran said on April 18 that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz again and fired on commercial shipping after the United States kept its blockade of Iranian ports in place. (apnews.com) Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned that ships approaching the strait would be treated as cooperating with “the enemy,” and British military monitors said two Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker in the waterway. India also said two of its ships were targeted and turned back. (pbs.org) (cbsnews.com) Hours later, Tehran sent mixed signals, with Iran’s joint military command saying control of the strait had “returned to its previous state,” while the White House said the passage was “completely open.” Shipping companies and marine insurers still had to decide whether to send vessels through. (npr.org) (nytimes.com) The strait is a 29-nautical-mile chokepoint between Iran and Oman, with shipping lanes only 2 miles wide in each direction. The International Energy Agency says about 20 million barrels a day of crude oil and oil products moved through it in 2025. (iea.org) The U.S. Energy Information Administration said flows through the strait in 2024 and early 2025 accounted for more than one-quarter of global seaborne oil trade, about one-fifth of global oil and petroleum product consumption, and around one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade. Most of that traffic was headed to Asia. (eia.gov) This round of brinkmanship came during a ceasefire that PBS reported is due to expire by Wednesday, April 22. Pakistani mediators were trying to arrange another round of direct U.S.-Iran talks after Iran said it had received new American proposals. (pbs.org) The nuclear dispute is still at the center of those talks. An International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards report said Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 9,874.9 kilograms as of June 13, 2025, including material enriched up to 60%, which is below weapons grade but much closer to it than fuel used in most civilian reactors. (iaea.org) The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, citing International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring, said Iran had 440.9 kilograms enriched up to 60% before the June 2025 strikes. That stockpile helps explain why Washington, Tehran, and outside powers are still treating shipping lanes and nuclear terms as parts of the same negotiation. (armscontrolcenter.org) For now, the narrow question is not whether the strait matters. It is whether captains, insurers, and navies believe Sunday’s assurances enough to move tankers through a passage where Iranian gunboats fired only hours earlier. (nytimes.com)
