Strait of Hormuz traffic remains far below normal after U.S.-Iran agreement

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has recovered much more slowly than officials claimed, despite a U.S.-Iran agreement in mid-June 2026 to end the conflict.

Before the war, more than 100 ships passed through the strait each day. In the first weekend after the agreement, around 70 ships made the crossing. But by mid-June, daily traffic had fallen to just 20 vessels. Then, when the U.S. restarted its blockade on July 14, numbers dropped further to about 5 ships per day.

Most of those remaining ships travel with a naval escort or have turned off their tracking systems. The strait also still contains mines, and clearing them could take months. The waterway normally carries around 80 percent of global oil and gas trade by sea.