In this picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on May 4 denied that any commercial ships had crossed the Strait of Hormuz, after the US military earlier said two US-flagged merchant vessels had transited through the vital waterway. (Photo by Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP) /
Strait of Hormuz traffic slowed over the weekend after a vessel was struck while transiting the waterway on Saturday, and a fresh exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran strained their preliminary deal to end the conflict.
In total, 29 commodity vessels crossed on Saturday and 12 transited on Sunday, according to data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler.
Sunday’s figures marked a sharp decline from last week, when a memorandum of understanding signed by Tehran and Washington on June 15 boosted traffic through the strait to its highest level since the start of the Middle East war, reaching 70 crossings on Wednesday, according to Kpler.
Despite Iran’s warning against using unapproved shipping lanes, vessels continued to take several routes through the waterway over the weekend.
