Skip to content
Straits
Live figures · Day 146
Reference

Key actors

Who controls the Strait of Hormuz.

The closure is not one party’s decision. It is enforced by some, contested by others, mediated by a few, and measured by the data authorities Straits cites. The institutions below, not named individuals, are the durable actors in the crisis.

The blockade

Who closed it.

The parties that declared and enforce the closure of the strait to commercial shipping. Iran has since claimed reopenings more than once; carriers have not returned, which is why the verdict tracks carrier postures.

  1. Iran

    Closed the strait to commercial shipping in response to the 28 February 2026 US-Israeli airstrikes (Operation Epic Fury); the formal closure was declared in early March 2026, opening the crisis.

  2. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

    Holds the operational authority to enforce the closure across the chokepoint and its approaches.

The response

Who is contesting it.

The military and commercial actors responding to the closure on the water.

  1. US Navy / CENTCOM

    Ran the naval blockade of Iran declared in April 2026 and the Project Freedom escort convoys; briefly lifted the blockade on June 18, 2026 under the Islamabad Memorandum, then resumed strikes on Iranian targets after the ceasefire frayed and finally collapsed on July 8 as Iran moved to re-assert control over the strait. In early July Iran attacked commercial ships in the strait, the United States answered with a bombing campaign and reimposed sanctions and its naval blockade, and President Trump declared the ceasefire over on July 8. Iran has retaliated against US bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait and re-declared the strait closed until further notice, while an Oman-mediated corridor through Omani waters stays contested and largely empty. By late July the war had widened: Yemen's Houthis attacked two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea on July 23, putting a second chokepoint at risk, and Brent crude settled above $100 a barrel for the first time since May. Roughly 6,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Gulf.

  2. The nine largest container carriers

    8 of the top 9 container lines by global TEU have suspended Hormuz transits or rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope.

  3. Gulf crude and LNG shippers

    Tanker and gas operators whose only sea route to market crosses the chokepoint; bypass pipelines cover only about 40% of normal throughput.

The mediators

Who brokered it.

The diplomatic track that produced the reopening framework.

  1. Pakistan

    Primary broker of the June 2026 Islamabad Memorandum, the framework the US and Iran signed to reopen the strait and end the blockade; Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt also facilitated. The full diplomatic timeline is on the peace-talks page.

  2. Oman

    A longstanding back-channel between Washington and Tehran, now the lead mediator hosting a technical track in Muscat after the June 17 framework collapsed. Oman has proposed splitting traffic into two corridors: a southern route through Omani waters open on pre-war terms, and a northern route through Iranian waters requiring Tehran's prior approval, with no tolls attached. Iran and Oman have separately asked Washington to accept a joint fee for navigational safety, pollution protection and emergency response, which US negotiators have objected to and which Oman's own foreign minister would keep voluntary rather than mandatory. The talks remain unresolved, and Oman's position is complicated by Iran having struck Omani soil.

The scorekeepers

Who measures it.

The data authorities of record. Straits surfaces their figures with provenance; these are the primary sources behind the numbers.

  1. IMF PortWatch

    Daily commercial transit count of record. Latest reading: 15 vs roughly 88 per day before the crisis.

  2. Lloyd's Joint War Committee (JWC)

    Sets the listed-area war-risk posture that drives insurance pricing and, in turn, whether transit is commercially viable.

  3. US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

    Source of record for oil prices, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and Cushing stocks tracked across the site.

  4. US Treasury OFAC

    Maintains the SDN sanctions list cross-referenced against live AIS positions to flag sanctioned-vessel transits.

The exposed

Who pays for it.

The economies most dependent on Hormuz-borne crude and LNG, ranked by import exposure.

  1. Japan, South Korea, China, India

    The Asian importers carrying the highest dependence on Middle East crude and Qatari LNG routed through the strait.

  2. European Union

    Exposed through LNG supply and the Asia to Europe shipping legs now rerouting around the Cape.

Cite this page

Key actors in the Strait of Hormuz crisis, framed by institution and role, as compiled by straits.live from its tracked sources (IMF PortWatch, Lloyd's Joint War Committee, EIA, OFAC). Reflect the dataHealth freshness shown on the page when citing live figures. Source: https://straits.live/key-actors