IRGC bars U.S.- and Israel-linked ships from Strait of Hormuz

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued orders on February 28, 2026, barring vessels linked to the United States or Israel from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly 20 percent of global oil supply passes. The IRGC boarded and attacked merchant ships and began laying sea mines in the strait. Tanker traffic dropped by approximately 70 percent within days as shipping firms suspended operations. Iran did not formally invoke legal closure but the IRGC's physical interdictions produced a de facto blockade.