Hormuz Crisis Holds as Iran's Economic Isolation Tightens

Six months into the war, the fighting has given way to a slower siege. Washington says the strait is open and the mines are cleared;

Aalimi Nation

30 August 2026 · Updated 30 August 2026 · 2 min read

The Strait of Hormuz, the world's tightest energy chokepoint, remains contested six months into the war — with Iran's main commercial gateway at Bandar Abbas lying idle and shipping volumes s — AALIMI NATION / File Photo

Washington says it has gained complete control over the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran insists that no vessel can pass through the strategic waterway without its permission and coordination.

Iran’s economy is facing severe difficulties due to the US blockade and sanctions. Nearly 70 percent of Iran’s exports and imports pass through Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas. However, images that emerged on Saturday appeared to show a complete halt in activity at the port, with no cargo being loaded or unloaded.

Iranian news agency Tasnim also released footage showing the initial moments of bombardment on oil storage facilities in Tehran. The attacks were carried out during the 40-day war and affected part of the capital’s fuel supply and distribution capacity.

Subsequently, oil storage facilities located in northeastern and northwestern Tehran were taken out of the fuel supply system. Similarly, the operational capacity of the Rey oil depot, located southeast of the Iranian capital, has reportedly fallen to around 30 percent of its previous level.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had earlier said that US sanctions and the naval blockade imposed on Iranian ports had led to an approximately 35 percent decline in the country’s imports and exports.

In an interview with state television, Pezeshkian said that the country was in a state of war and that the conditions created by the conflict would have to be accepted.

However, he said that during a short-term memorandum of understanding reached between the United States and Iran in June, Iran had managed to sell nearly 90 million barrels of oil.

The Iranian president also said that, in order to adjust to the decline in trade, the country would eventually have to increase gasoline prices.

Amid the economic blockade, both the United States and Iran continue to assert their respective control over the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said that Tehran was in no hurry to reopen the Strait, which, according to him, remains closed. He added that no vessel could pass through the waterway without communicating and coordinating with Iranian authorities.

Meanwhile, satellite images have reportedly revealed that the US military carried out a secret dredging operation to open a new maritime passage on the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz. The new shipping route is said to be approximately 1,600 feet wide, with a natural depth of around 93 feet.

According to satellite imagery, vessels using this new route could remain outside Iranian surveillance and observation.