DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards challenged President Donald Trump to send U.S. Navy escorts into the Strait of Hormuz after Trump floated the idea and as commercial traffic through the oil chokepoint slumped to a fraction of normal levels, March 6, 2026. The dare underscored how quickly the crisis has moved beyond rhetoric: ships remain stranded, insurers are tightening terms and maritime security monitors say routine trade is being choked more by risk than by any formally recognized blockade.
According to Reuters reporting on Friday, Guards spokesperson Alimohammad Naini said Iran “strongly welcomes” an escort mission and that Tehran was “awaiting their presence,” while warning Washington to remember the 1987 Bridgeton mine strike and the tankers hit in recent days.
Trump had already said the U.S. Navy could begin escorting oil tankers if needed and ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide political-risk insurance and financial guarantees for Gulf trade. He added, “No matter what, the United States will ensure the free flow of energy to the world.”
Strait of Hormuz traffic freeze deepens
The practical problem for Washington is that escorts have not restored confidence yet. A Joint Maritime Information Center advisory put the Strait’s historical daily average at about 138 vessels, but said only four confirmed commercial transits were observed in the prior 24 hours and found no indication those ships were escorted. Its transit table showed total tanker passages collapsing from 50 on Feb. 28 to just three on March 5.
Reuters also reported in a shipping crisis dispatch that at least 200 ships, including oil, liquefied natural gas and cargo vessels, were anchored off Gulf producers earlier this week, while hundreds of others remained outside Hormuz unable to reach port. Even the rare successful transit has done little to calm a market still exposed to projectiles, drones and GPS interference.
The damage is already moving down the supply chain. Reuters reported that fuel-oil shipments through Hormuz to Asia are now about 90% below last week’s level, citing Kpler data, while high-sulfur bunker prices in Singapore have jumped more than 40% since the war began.
Why the Strait of Hormuz keeps returning as a crisis point
The standoff is not without precedent. A Reuters backgrounder from 2008 noted that the 1984-87 “Tanker War” cut Gulf shipping by 25% and forced U.S. intervention to secure the lanes. More recently, Britain began escorting all UK-flagged vessels in 2019 after tanker seizures and attempted interdictions pushed London to harden its posture.
That history is why Tehran’s challenge matters. Iran is not just threatening to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz; it is openly daring Washington to prove it can reopen the route under fire. Until shipowners believe escorts, insurance and intelligence can materially cut the odds of another hit, the waterway is likely to remain open in theory but constricted in practice.
