Iran's military announced Tuesday it has closed the Strait of Hormuz to all vessel traffic and warned it will torch any ships attempting passage, a move threatening to choke off a fifth of the world's oil supply and spike global energy prices.
The announcement came as US-Israeli military operations against Iran intensified, and Washington urged Americans across the region to leave while commercial travel options remain available, raising fears the confrontation could spill into shipping routes critical to oil and gas supplies.
Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, warned that the IRGC Navy and the army would “set ablaze” any ship that violates the instructions, adding Tehran “will not allow a single drop of oil to leave the region.” He said the threat also extends to pipelines.
US Central Command denied the strait had been closed, and a senior US military official said Iran was not patrolling or enforcing its claimed closure and that commercial vessels were sailing through the area cautiously, according to Fox News on Monday.
The US official said this was not the first time Iran had announced plans to close the strait, describing it as a “pressure tactic” intended to stoke fear. He also played down the likelihood Tehran would mine the waterway, given that roughly 80% of its oil exports are shipped to China.
Oil prices rose sharply in Asian trading on Tuesday. Brent crude climbed 4.41% to $81.17 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 3.99% to $74.07.
Iran’s announcement followed a CENTCOM claim that it had struck an IRGC command headquarters, destroying Iranian air defenses, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields in sustained operations.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Tuesday morning its naval forces had targeted the US air base in the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain with missiles and drones, claiming 20 drones and three missiles had hit their targets and destroyed the main command building and the base’s staff headquarters and set fuel depots on fire.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that the US embassy in Riyadh had been attacked by two drones, causing a limited fire and some material damage.
After that attack, the US State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential staff and their families to leave Bahrain and Jordan, a day after issuing similar orders for Iraq, as the Middle East conflict escalated.
Hours earlier, the department had recommended that US citizens leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries using available commercial transportation because of “serious safety risks.”
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar posted on X that the recommendation applies to Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The escalation comes after the United States and Israel launched their military operations against Iran after negotiations that began on Feb. 6 and ran through the end of the month, mediated by Oman, to explore chances of reaching an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which the two allies are seeking to end and prevent Tehran from completing.
The current operations are the second wave of US-Israeli strikes against Iran in a matter of months, after Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June, in which the United States joined by carrying out air strikes on Iran that it said were meant to deter Tehran from developing its nuclear program. Iran responded by firing missiles at the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar before Trump announced the war had ended by agreement.
