Middle East On Edge As Trumps Iran Blockade Begins And Oil Jumps Above $100

Trump’s new naval blockade of Iranian ports at the Strait of Hormuz has sent Brent and WTI back above $100, sparked Iranian threats against Gulf ports, and knocked Bitcoin off weekend highs as traders reprice energy and geopolitical risk.

A US naval blockade of Iranian ports along the Strait of Hormuz began on Monday after weekend talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad failed to produce a deal, sending oil back above $100 a barrel and rattling global markets. US Central Command said the embargo covers “the entirety of the Iranian coastline” and will apply to all vessels “regardless of flag” entering or exiting Iranian ports, while allowing ships transiting the strait between non‑Iranian ports to pass.

Tehran responded by threatening to hit “Gulf ports” in retaliation for what it has called an “illegal” attempt to choke its economy, raising the risk of direct strikes on regional energy infrastructure. In a message to Gulf neighbours reported by the Wall Street Journal, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned it would “take measures to deny America and its allies access to oil and gas resources in the region for years” if attacks on its soil escalate.

Oil prices surged on news of the blockade, with US West Texas Intermediate futures for May jumping 8% to about $104.40 per barrel and Brent crude for June climbing more than 7% to around $102 per barrel on Sunday evening. Barron’s reported that Brent was up 7.5% and WTI 8% after US‑Iran talks collapsed, while Yahoo Finance noted US crude “surged past $100” as traders priced in the risk of prolonged disruption to Persian Gulf exports.

The head of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, criticised the move, telling journalists “countries do not have the right to blockade an international strait that is used for international navigation,” and warning that “additional restrictive measures don’t really help us” de‑escalate the crisis. He added that “shipping continues to be used as collateral,” and said he “needed more details” on how the blockade would affect commercial traffic.

Market commentators fear the shock could get worse if the blockade lasts or widens. On CNBC, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute warned that “taking more oil off the market — particularly the only oil that is now getting out from the Persian Gulf — will drive oil prices further up … [to] around $150 per barrel” if the disruption deepens.

The blockade comes after Iran’s earlier threats to strike oil and gas platforms across the Middle East and follows a period in which Brent crude had already surged as much as 60% in March on the back of Hormuz‑related disruptions, according to analysis cited by Modern Diplomacy. With roughly 20% of global oil and LNG flows normally transiting the Strait of Hormuz, energy traders now face a scenario where the world’s most critical chokepoint is both militarised and politicised, and where a miscalculation in the Gulf could quickly translate into sharper inflation and financial stress far beyond the region.

In the two hours since the blockade formally came into effect, crypto markets have traded like any other macro risk asset: lower, but orderly rather than in full‑blown panic. Bitcoin (BTC) has slipped back toward the $70,500–$71,000 range after briefly trading near $74,000 over the weekend, with Investing.com putting it around $71,022 at 02:30 ET and CryptoRank noting an intraday low near $70,570 as oil spiked above $103.