Is the Strait of Hormuz Open? Status, Transits and Iran’s Conditions
The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed: 4 ships crossed on 18 October, against about 85 a day before the war. What Iran demands before it reopens.
In this article
Is the Strait of Hormuz open?
Not for most commercial shipping. As of 20 October 2026 the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed: IMF PortWatch recorded four vessel crossings on 18 October, against a pre-crisis average of about 85 a day. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say ships they have not authorised may not pass, and Iranian state media reported on 17 and 18 October that the Guards’ navy had declared the strait closed again. Washington says the waterway is open and keeps its naval blockade of Iranian ports in force.
A few ships still cross each day. Counts based on ship-tracking signals miss vessels that switch off their transponders, so the real number may be somewhat higher. Even so, a strait that carried a steady stream of tankers before the war now sees single digits.
This page is updated as the situation changes. Every figure on it was last checked on 20 October 2026.
Key takeaways
Iran ties any reopening to seven conditions drawn from the June memorandum, including the end of the US blockade, while Washington says the blockade stays and insists the strait is already open. Until one side gives way, the strait stays shut in practice. For Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf exporters, a reopening on Iran’s terms, with Iranian fees on passage, would not be a reopening at all.
Analysis
Why is the Strait of Hormuz closed?
The closure is part of the war that began on 28 February 2026, when the United States and Israel struck Iran. Iran answered by shutting the strait to shipping it linked to hostile states. Since then the waterway has been closed, partly reopened and closed again as ceasefires and agreements were reached and then fell apart.
Iran’s stated reason today is the American blockade. Its officials say security in the strait will return when the blockade and the economic pressure on Iran end, and they reject Washington’s claim that the strait has already reopened.
What are Iran’s seven conditions?
On 4 October the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the strait would stay closed until the United States meets seven conditions based on the 14-point memorandum signed in June. Reporting on the list has centred on lifting the naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending military pressure on Iran. A week earlier Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had presented the same demands as a seven-day plan, which President Donald Trump quickly ruled out, according to the Wall Street Journal. Silent Dossier’s account of that exchange is Iran Turns Its Hormuz Offer Into Seven Conditions.
Analysis
What is the US blockade of Iran?
US Central Command began enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports on 13 April 2026, after talks between the two governments collapsed. At a Pentagon briefing on 24 April, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it an ironclad blockade that grows more powerful by the day. The Islamabad Memorandum of June provided for the blockade to end, and enforcement stopped on 18 June. It resumed on 14 July after the deal broke down, and Hegseth has since said the Navy can maintain it indefinitely.
Analysis
Will the Strait of Hormuz reopen?
Only through a deal or a decisive change at sea. Pakistan, Qatar and Russia have all carried messages between Washington and Tehran, and any American answer to the seven conditions would most likely travel through one of them. Our US-Iran talks tracker follows each offer and rejection. Neither side has moved on the central point: the United States says the blockade stays, and Iran says the strait stays shut while it does.
A reopening also has to meet the Gulf states’ demand that passage be free. Iran has said it intends to charge ships for services in the strait, and analysts have questioned whether that would be legal. Silent Dossier’s position, set out in For Saudi Arabia, an Open Hormuz Must Also Be Toll-Free, is that a strait open only on Tehran’s terms and at Tehran’s price is still closed. Passage through an international strait is not Iran’s to sell.
Analysis
Why does the Strait of Hormuz matter?
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow passage between Iran and Oman that links the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the open ocean. It is the only sea route out of the Gulf for the oil and gas of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Iran itself. The shipping lanes run through Omani waters, but Iran holds the northern shore and the islands that overlook them. In 2024, before this war, about 20 million barrels of oil a day passed through it, the equivalent of about a fifth of world consumption, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Only Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pipelines that can carry part of their exports around it.
Every week the strait stays shut keeps oil, gas and freight costs high far beyond the region. That is why the Gulf states will not accept a reopening that Iran can price or switch off at will.
Timeline of the 2026 Hormuz crisis
28 February: US and Israeli strikes on Iran begin the war. Iran shuts the strait to shipping it links to hostile states.
2 March: The Revolutionary Guards confirm the closure, the date most trackers count from.
7 and 8 April: A ceasefire mediated by Pakistan is announced and takes effect.
13 April: US Central Command begins enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
24 April: Hegseth calls the blockade ironclad.
11 June: Iran announces it is shutting the strait, Al Jazeera reports, while talks continue.
14 and 15 June: The Islamabad Memorandum is signed, and Vice President JD Vance announces it. Its 14 points include reopening the strait; its reported terms also provide for 60 days of toll-free passage and an end to the blockade.
18 June: The first phase of the blockade ends.
Early July: The memorandum breaks down; accounts differ on the exact date.
11 July: The Guards’ navy declares the strait closed until further notice after firing a warning shot at a ship, Reuters reported.
14 July: The United States resumes the blockade.
4 October: Ghalibaf says the strait stays closed until the seven conditions are met.
17 and 18 October: Iranian state media report a renewed closure to ships without Iranian authorisation.
18 October: IMF PortWatch records four transits.
What to watch
The first sign of a reopening will show in the numbers: a sustained rise in the daily crossings that IMF PortWatch records, well above today’s single digits. Watch too for any American reply to the seven conditions, most likely carried by Pakistan or Qatar, and for whether Saudi Arabia and its partners take a direct part in keeping shipping moving. Until one of these changes, the strait stays closed in practice, whatever Washington or Tehran says about it.
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