The IRGC Navy struck the container ship GFS Galaxy early on 12 July, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed and left one Indian crewman missing. CENTCOM answered with roughly 140 strikes and insisted the strait stays open to lawful traffic. Both capitals cite the same attack to prove opposite claims; Washington has signed nothing on Iran since 10 July.
Iran declares Hormuz closed and strikes; Washington calls it open and signs nothing, leaving transit unenforceable either way.
The IRGC Navy struck the container ship GFS Galaxy in the Strait of Hormuz early on 12 July, left one of eleven Indian crew missing and declared the waterway closed until further notice.
United Arab EmiratesQatarIran's Revolutionary Guard struck the container ship GFS Galaxy in the strait of Hormuz on 12 July, wrecking its engine room, then declared the strait closed. One of eleven Indian crew remains missing.
The declaration leans on a legal gap. Iran signed but never ratified the treaty guaranteeing transit passage through straits, so the closure is a claim Tehran cannot yet enforce.
CENTCOM flew its third strike wave in a week, hitting roughly 140 targets and taking the total past 300, then declared the Strait of Hormuz open even as Washington signed no new Iran instrument.
United Arab EmiratesQatarUS Central Command hit about 140 targets in a third strike wave hours after Iran declared the strait closed, striking missile batteries and Revolutionary Guard boats. Iranian Navy lieutenant Hamidreza Dehghani was killed at Jask.
The week's strikes have now passed 300. US forces called the strait open to lawful traffic, even as Iran maintains its closure claim, leaving both sides asserting control of Hormuz.
Direction: up. The mechanism to watch is whether CENTCOM's 12 July 2026 Jask strike, which killed Lieutenant Dehghani, draws a proportional IRGC response beyond the GFS Galaxy strike, or whether the Article 5 talks stalled since the 9 July 2026 Ghalibaf announcement resume and produce the signed instrument neither side currently has. A confirmed sinking or further named casualty on either side would remove any remaining ambiguity about direction.
