Tehran / Gulf Region — Global oil markets are in full panic mode after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced it was “shutting the Strait of Hormuz” and warned it would “set on fire every route that feeds the enemy’s economy” if the US and its allies do not halt military operations.

Fast attack boats, missile batteries and drone units have been deployed along Iran’s southern coast as IRGC commanders declare all “hostile or cooperating” tankers subject to inspection or “immediate neutralisation.” Shipping trackers show multiple supertankers abruptly altering course, while at least one vessel has reported being ordered to cut engines by armed Iranian patrols.

Oil prices are spiking as traders scramble to price in the risk that up to a fifth of global crude exports could be effectively held hostage. Insurance premiums for vessels entering the Gulf have surged, and several major energy firms have quietly suspended sailings through the chokepoint, rerouting ships around Africa at enormous extra cost.

In Washington, US naval forces are moving to escort key tankers and keep a narrow corridor open, even as the Pentagon warns that any Iranian attempt to mine the waterway or fire on commercial traffic will be treated as “an act of war.” Gulf monarchies, terrified that a single miscalculation could ignite their own ports and refineries, are on high alert but publicly urge de‑escalation.

With the IRGC vowing to “turn the Strait into a furnace” and global markets already trembling, diplomats fear the standoff over Hormuz is no longer just another flare‑up — it is a test of whether the world’s energy lifeline can be weaponised without dragging everyone who depends on it into the fire.