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Iran Announces the Strait of Hormuz Is Closed to the US & Israel | For Everyone Else, $2M Please!

Iran announced to the United Nations that the Strait of Hormuz is officially closed to vessels belonging to the United States, Israel, and any nation it deems an aggressor. The declaration follows a series of maritime attacks since early March and reflects Tehran’s broader strategy of leveraging the chokepoint after what it describes as U.S. and Israeli aggression. Marine‑traffic data show ships now hugging Iran’s territorial waters north of Larak and Kish islands, bypassing the central traffic separation scheme. Over the past 24 hours, six tankers and four cargo vessels have transited, but overall flow has dropped dramatically from the usual 20 million barrels per day to roughly one million, forcing oil to be rerouted through longer Red Sea and African passages. Iran’s UN statement cites the right of self‑defence and demands coordination with Iranian authorities, even threatening to deny “innocent passage” to non‑hostile vessels. A container ship bound for Pakistan was forced to reverse course after Iranian forces intervened, and Bloomberg reports that Tehran is extracting up to $2 million per voyage as an ad‑hoc toll—an action that contravenes the 1982 UNCLOS provisions on free navigation. The combined effect is tighter global oil supplies, higher freight costs, and a surge in gasoline and diesel prices in the United States and elsewhere. The move also raises legal questions about the legitimacy of Iran’s control over an international waterway, potentially prompting diplomatic disputes and prompting other powers to reassess naval deployments in the region.