72 Hours of Life and Death! Decisive Factors That Will Determine the Market's Next Move

The Strait of Hormuz is experiencing the most severe factual blockade in its history.

After the "Wrath of the Epic" joint military operation on February 28, 2026, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard broadcast on VHF channel 16 to all passing vessels: "No ship is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz." The strait's traffic volume plummeted by about 70% within 48 hours.

As of March 1, more than 150 oil tankers and LNG ships have anchored in open waters of the Persian Gulf, and around 170 container ships (totaling 450,000 TEU, accounting for 1.4% of global capacity) are trapped within the Gulf.

However, Tehran has not issued an official blockade order—Foreign Minister Araghchi stated on Al Jazeera that "there is currently no intention to close the strait."

This seemingly contradictory signal in fact constitutes a sophisticated gray zone strategy: without the need for mining the channel, mere low-cost deterrence is sufficient to effectively paralyze the world's most critical energy chokepoint.