The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas normally passes, has been brought to near-total standstill as the United States and Iran impose rival blockades, exchange vessel seizures, and trade escalating threats over mine-laying. Brent crude surged above $106 per barrel on Friday, up nearly five percent in two days, as markets reacted to what the International Energy Agency has described as the largest disruption to oil supplies in the history of the global market — greater than the oil shocks of the 1970s.

Iran's navy has laid a fresh round of mines in the strait this week, according to a US official cited by Axios — the second such deployment since the war began in late February — and US forces are operating underwater drones to locate and neutralise them. A senior Pentagon official reportedly told members of the House Armed Services Committee in a classified briefing that full mine-clearance could take up to six months, though the Pentagon subsequently denied that characterisation. President Donald Trump responded by ordering the US Navy to destroy,