Commercial Shipping Through the Strait of Hormuz Drops Sharply After Iran Announces Closure

Commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply after Iran announced it had closed the waterway again. According to Jin10, commercial shipping tracking data cited by Iran showed that only 11 commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, including eight oil tankers and three cargo ships. Early on the 12th local time, the naval arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement saying it fired warning shots at a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement said the strait would be temporarily closed until further notice because the unsafe situation was "caused by illegal interference by foreign forces." It added that no vessels would be allowed to pass until the United States ends its intervention in the region.