On March 2, 2026 — two days after the launch of Operation Epic Fury — Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, formally announced that the Strait of Hormuz was "closed" and that the IRGC and Iranian navy would "set ablaze" any vessel attempting to transit. The declaration transformed what had been a de facto disruption of shipping into a formal blockade of the world's most critical oil chokepoint, through which approximately 20 percent of global seaborne oil trade passes daily.
The formal closure declaration was distinct from the broader military conflict: it represented Iran's deliberate weaponization of its geographic position to impose global economic consequences for the US-Israeli strikes. By March 4, Iranian forces were actively carrying out attacks on ships attempting to transit, making the closure operational rather than merely rhetorical. Tanker traffic through the strait declined by approximately 70 percent within the first week, with over 150 vessels anchoring in international waters outside the strait to avoid attack.
The closure triggered an immediate global energy crisis. Oil prices spiked above $100 per barrel and continued climbing, with IRGC spokespeople warning of $200 per barrel prices. The International Energy Agency declared the Hormuz closure the largest oil supply disruption in history. An emergency coordinated release of 400 million barrels from strategic petroleum reserves by dozens of countries — the largest such release ever — provided only temporary market relief.
The economic consequences cascaded far beyond oil markets. The strait also served as a critical transit point for liquefied natural gas shipments from Qatar and the UAE. Major shipping firms suspended operations in the area entirely. The Dallas Federal Reserve later estimated that a sustained closure of more than 30 days would trigger a global recession — a threshold the crisis would ultimately exceed. Iran's Hormuz strategy demonstrated that even a nation under massive aerial bombardment retained the capacity to impose devastating economic costs on the global economy through geographic leverage.