What Happened
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy has been broadcasting warnings over maritime VHF channels, declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed and prohibiting vessel transit — particularly those heading to or from the US, Israel, and their allies.
- Widespread GPS jamming has affected over 1,100 vessels operating in and around the Persian Gulf, erroneously placing ships at airports, on land, or near nuclear facilities in Iran, Oman, and the UAE.
- US military intelligence reports indicate that Iran has deployed naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, creating hidden threats along established shipping lanes.
- 22 Indian-flagged vessels carrying over 611 Indian seafarers were reported on the western side of the strait, with cargoes including crude oil, LPG, and LNG; more than 488 Indian seafarers have since been repatriated.
- The Indian Directorate General of Shipping and the Indian Navy's Maritime Centre issued warnings about volatile shipping risks, with the Navy guiding select India-flagged vessels through the corridor.
Static Topic Bridges
The Strait of Hormuz: World's Most Critical Maritime Chokepoint
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between Oman and Iran connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest, it is approximately 33 kilometres wide, with two shipping lanes of just 3 kilometres each for inbound and outbound traffic. It is classified by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) as the world's most important oil transit chokepoint.
- In 2024, approximately 20 million barrels per day (b/d) of oil — roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption — transited the strait.
- Over one-quarter of total global seaborne oil trade passes through Hormuz, along with approximately one-fifth of global LNG trade (primarily from Qatar).
- The primary destinations of outgoing oil flows are Asian economies: China, India, Japan, and South Korea.
- For India specifically: over 80% of LPG imports, approximately 40% of crude oil imports, and more than 50% of LNG imports pass through Hormuz.
Connection to this news: The IRGC's GPS jamming, mine-laying, and radio warnings directly threaten the safe transit of vessels through this chokepoint — disrupting a maritime corridor that is structurally irreplaceable for India's energy supply chain.
GPS Jamming and AIS Spoofing as Tools of Maritime Hybrid Warfare
GPS jamming involves broadcasting radio frequency signals that overpower legitimate GPS satellite signals, causing receivers to report false positions. AIS (Automatic Identification System) spoofing involves transmitting false vessel identity and location data to maritime tracking systems. Both are considered instruments of asymmetric maritime warfare used by state and non-state actors to degrade navigation safety without conventional kinetic engagement.
- International law does not explicitly prohibit GPS jamming in international waters in peacetime, but interference that endangers life at sea may violate the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS, 1974).
- Electronic warfare in straits significantly increases collision risks, groundings, and makes mine avoidance impossible.
- The Windward maritime intelligence platform reported 1,100+ affected vessels in a 24-hour period during the current crisis, placing ships erroneously at airports and nuclear facilities.
- GPS jamming in this region has precedent: widespread spoofing incidents were reported around the Persian Gulf during 2019 tanker tensions.
Connection to this news: The IRGC is deploying GPS jamming not merely to inconvenience vessels but to render navigational safety impossible, effectively enforcing its blockade without direct kinetic attack on every ship.
IRGC Navy and Asymmetric Maritime Warfare Doctrine
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), established in 1985, is one of two parallel naval forces operated by Iran. Unlike the conventional Iranian Navy, the IRGCN is structured around asymmetric and guerrilla maritime doctrine: swarms of fast-attack craft, anti-ship missiles, naval mines, and electronic warfare rather than conventional fleet engagements.
- The IRGCN has operational jurisdiction over the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, while the Iranian Navy operates in the Gulf of Oman and beyond.
- Naval mines are a central IRGC weapon: during the 1987–88 Tanker War, IRGC mining struck the US-escorted Kuwaiti supertanker SS Bridgeton; in 2019, IRGC was attributed with limpet mine attacks on four tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
- Under international law (San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea), naval mines may be placed in territorial waters and international waters during armed conflict, but belligerents cannot seed international straits indiscriminately in ways that endanger all neutral maritime traffic.
- The IRGCN's "toll booth" model — selectively permitting ships from allied or neutral nations (India, China) while blocking others — creates a de facto discriminatory blockade that raises complex questions under UNCLOS transit passage provisions.
Connection to this news: The IRGC's combination of radio warnings, GPS jamming, and mine deployment constitutes a layered asymmetric blockade strategy, which directly threatens Indian vessel safety and supply chain security while creating complex international legal questions.
UNCLOS and the Right of Transit Passage Through International Straits
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in 1982 and entering into force in 1994, is the foundational international legal framework governing maritime navigation. India ratified UNCLOS in 1995. The treaty codifies a hierarchy of navigational rights depending on maritime zone and waterway type.
- Article 17 (Innocent Passage): Ships of all states enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea (up to 12 nautical miles from baseline), but coastal states may temporarily suspend this for security reasons.
- Article 38 (Transit Passage): Ships and aircraft of all states enjoy the right of continuous and expeditious transit through straits used for international navigation. This right cannot be suspended by any coastal state for any reason.
- The Strait of Hormuz qualifies as a strait used for international navigation under Part III of UNCLOS, entitling all vessels to transit passage rights — rights that Iran's IRGC blockade directly violates.
- Iran, while a signatory to UNCLOS, has historically contested full transit passage rights in the strait, claiming sovereign authority to regulate traffic through portions of Iranian territorial waters.
Connection to this news: EAM Jaishankar's repeated invocation of "freedom of navigation" is rooted in the UNCLOS transit passage framework — an international legal right that the IRGC blockade is actively violating, with direct consequences for Indian shipping.
Key Facts & Data
- 20 million barrels per day: oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz in 2024 (~20% of global petroleum consumption)
- 1,100+ ships affected by GPS jamming in a single 24-hour period during the crisis
- 22 Indian-flagged vessels were trapped on the western side of the Strait as of late March 2026
- 611 Indian seafarers were aboard stranded vessels; 488+ have been repatriated
- India's LPG storage capacity: approximately 1.2 million tonnes — barely two weeks of national demand
- India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): 5.33 MMT capacity across Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur — covering approximately 9.5 days of crude oil requirement at full capacity
- The strait is approximately 33 km wide at its narrowest, with two 3-km shipping lanes