Iran shuts Hormuz: some 230 tankers trapped in the Gulf
Tehran has reimposed a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and while the Revolutionary Guard says it is stopping ships and charging for passage, an estimated 230 loaded tankers are stranded in the Gulf as Brent jumps nearly eight percent.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guard says a combined missile and drone operation has stopped ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, with explosions reported on routes believed to be mined.
- An estimated 230 loaded tankers are stranded in the Gulf, while confirmed figures suggest the blockade has affected roughly 2,000 vessels and about 20,000 seafarers.
- Brent surged nearly eight percent, to about 82 dollars, after the return of the naval blockade and a threatened 20 percent levy on cargo.
- Only about 10 to 14 ships a day are now passing through the strait, against a normal figure of around 88.
For a country with no oil field of its own, one that pays for every litre of fuel at the price set by nerves on the world market, news that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again is not a distant geopolitical drama but a warning of fresh pressure on every filling station and every heating bill in Serbia. After weeks of escalation with the United States, Tehran has reimposed a naval blockade at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, and the Revolutionary Guard says it is using a combined missile and drone operation to stop ships that try to pass and to charge for transit through waters it regards as its own.
The picture coming out of the Gulf is one of halted traffic. Explosions have been reported on shipping routes believed to be mined, and a string of shippers have pulled their tankers back or held them in port until it becomes clear who controls the passage. Maritime sources estimate that around 230 loaded oil tankers are trapped in the Gulf, unable to deliver their cargo, while on a wider view, and on confirmed figures, the blockade has caught roughly 2,000 vessels and close to 20,000 seafarers waiting for the strait to reopen.
What does closing Hormuz mean for fuel prices in Serbia?
The answer lies in the geography of energy power. Historically about a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, so any narrowing of that chokepoint is enough to move the market before a single tanker is actually late. That is why Brent, the world benchmark, jumped nearly eight percent and climbed back to about 82 dollars a barrel the moment the blockade was confirmed and Tehran signalled a 20 percent levy on cargo passing through. For Serbia, which imports crude and refined products, every day the strait stays shut feeds into the purchase price of fuel, and from there into the cost of transport, food and heating, with a lag of a few weeks.
The scale of the standstill is clearest in the traffic figures. Instead of the usual roughly 88 ships a day, only about 10 to 14 vessels are now passing through, and even those move under risk and under negotiation over payment. In this way Tehran is demonstrating the very asymmetric leverage that the West has spent years trying to blunt: a small fleet of fast boats, coastal missiles and drones can halt tankers far larger and more valuable than itself, without firing a single shot at land.
Tehran holds the valve, but for how long
Iran’s calculation is plain. As long as the strait is shut, every capital that depends on Gulf energy has reason to push Washington towards the negotiating table rather than towards further escalation. The United States and its Gulf partners have spent months building southern routes that skirt Iranian waters precisely to dull that leverage, but the renewed blockade shows how fragile that alternative still is when Tehran decides to flex. Qatar and Oman, which in these crises repeatedly carry diplomatic weight out of all proportion to their size, are again being floated as possible mediators.
For Europe, and therefore for Serbia, the coming weeks will test how resilient energy supply really is when it hangs on a single strait and the will of a single capital. If the blockade drags on, pumps in Belgrade and Nis will feel it before the conflict in the Gulf is anywhere near resolved. Do you believe Tehran will yield to market pressure, or is a closed Hormuz now a permanent card in its bargaining with the West?
