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Coverage · Iran–Gulf

Key event

Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz closed to normal commercial traffic

28 Feb 2026 Essential hormuz-strait

What happened

Iranian forces declare the strait closed and cross-strait traffic largely halts. Around 20 million barrels a day of crude and petroleum products moved through it in the 2025 baseline, together with close to a fifth of world LNG exports.

The declaration changed the legal and political contest over the strait. What actually stopped commercial traffic over the following week was the withdrawal of war-risk cover, which is why this module keeps legal, physical and commercial access as three separate questions.

Confidence: High

When28 Feb 2026
Wherehormuz-strait
KindMaritime · Energy
Confidence: High Sources: Congressional Research Service — Iran, the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz · IEA electricity and energy-security analysis Methodology Corrections

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Watch questions this event bears on

Standing analytical questions whose evidence runs through this event, each with its latest review. Derived from the Watch object, never restated here.

  • LogisticsIs the Strait of Hormuz commercially usable again?Movement
    1. 2026-09-04: Baseline
    2. 2026-09-13: Movement observed
    3. 2026-09-20: Assessment changed
    4. 2026-09-27: Assessment changed
    5. 2026-10-04: Assessment changed
    6. 2026-10-11: Assessment changed
    7. 2026-10-18: Movement observed

Connected records

4 records that this event names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Part of1

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Participants2

Organisations this event records, with the role and confidence it states.

Analytical Notes1

Published Notes whose analysis names this record. The Note owns the edge; this is the way back to it.

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Iran–Gulf timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.