Here's a comprehensive summary of what's happening with the **Strait of Hormuz** (the "straight of her moves" is a transcription artifact from speech-to-text) **right now** as of July 12, 2026: --- ## 🔴 Crisis at the Strait of Hormuz — July 2026 ### What happened (latest 24 hours) - **Iran closed the Strait** — On Saturday July 11, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the Strait of Hormuz is **closed** after firing on and disabling a **Cyprus-flagged container vessel (GFS Galaxy)**. One Indian crew member remains missing. - **US launched massive retaliatory strikes** — U.S. Central Command hit **~140 military targets** in Iran in a third round of strikes, including air defense systems, coastal radar, anti-ship missiles, and IRGC naval boats. - **Iran struck back across the region** — Iran claimed attacks on US-linked sites in **Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain**. Gulf states gave differing accounts — Qatar and Jordan downplayed the damage, while **Kuwait confirmed** three northern border posts and an offshore oil platform were hit, injuring one worker. - **Trump's response** — The President rejected Iran's closure claim, saying *"It's open. We bombed the hell out of them last night"* and that Iran has no sovereignty over the waterway. ### The broader context - This is the **third consecutive weekend** of US-Iran exchanges. A ceasefire/negotiated deal collapsed earlier in July. - Trump claimed Iran agreed to a deal in negotiations on Saturday but then *"launched a drone at a ship within an hour"* of leaving the room. - **Iran's power grid** has lost 4,200 MW capacity after the US strikes, with over 2,000 points on the network damaged. - **Oil markets** are severely disrupted — ~20% of global oil transits the Strait. Shipping risk is at "severe" level. ### Current status (as of late July 12) | Who says | Strait status | |---|---| | **Iran** | **Closed** — "until further notice" | | **U.S. (CENTCOM)** | **Open** — southern route expanded for two-way traffic, military ready to enforce | | **UN (Guterres)** | Deeply concerned, calls for ceasefire | ### Key players involved - **US** — actively striking Iranian targets, CENTCOM leading operations - **Iran** — retaliating with missiles/drones at Gulf states - **Gulf states** — UAE, Qatar, Kuwait intercepting missiles; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain condemning Iran - **Oman** — mediating, but also struck by Iranian drones - **Pakistan** — urging diplomacy - **UN** — calling for maximum restraint This is a **major escalation** — a de facto naval confrontation in one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints, with active military strikes, commercial shipping under attack, and no clear de-escalation path visible.