6 November 2026.

Situation

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial traffic, with vessel throughput on the IMF PortWatch data standing at 2 transits recorded on October 25, against a pre-crisis baseline of 85 per day. Reuters reports tankers were hit in the strait as Iran keeps up pressure following the US midterm vote, a development MarineLink also carries. Separately, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that two oil tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the strait; nine outlets in this feed's window carry that claim, including Deccan Chronicle and Middle East Eye, though no maritime authority has confirmed it. Iranian state media also claim five tankers and a tugboat caught fire, and separately report that tankers struck mines; both claims originate with Iranian state media and have not been confirmed by any independent maritime authority. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, says the strait will remain closed and that no talks with the United States will take place until Iran's seven conditions are met, per WANA News Agency, which is state media and treats that as a claim. A tanker was separately reported struck by projectiles in the Persian Gulf off Qatar, reported on November 5, per Boston Herald and The Independent. Brent stood at $99.32, up 4.71% over 24 hours, as of 23:46 UTC. Feed activity in the last 24 hours spans 64 headlines. As of 00:00 UTC, 136 AIS-visible vessels were holding position away from berth in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf watch box, a count that leaves out ships within 25km of a working port. On the Hormuz Index, Crisis Pressure, the state composite, sits in the extreme band, flat over 24 hours, with its value set by physical transit deviation alone; the Escalation Forecast sits in the elevated band, rising over 24 hours, with the Brent-WTI forward spread as its top contributor.