Iran appears to retain greater leverage over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz than the United States, although the available data cannot establish which route most vessels are using. Kpler recorded 112 crude, LPG and LNG carriers transiting the strait between August 1 and August 19: 21 openly used the Iranian route, two used the Omani route and 89 followed dark or unclassified paths. Across all cargo categories, 236 ships transited during the period, including 83 on the Iranian route, three on the Omani route, two on the pre-war central route and 148 on unknown or dark routes. Dark routing, often enabled by turning off an AIS transponder (a vessel-tracking beacon), reduces visibility to military forces but creates safety and transparency risks and can facilitate ship-to-ship cargo transfers. The traffic patterns suggest operators are more willing to defy U.S. warnings than Iran’s navigation demands, despite the U.S. naval blockade. Experts say Iran still has significant capacity to disrupt shipping, but alternative logistics, transfers and regional maritime-security measures limit its control. The strait carried about one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies before the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. Iran closed it in early March, later signing a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. on June 17. The dispute has become central to peace talks, while the conflict has driven Brent crude from about $66 a barrel before the conflict to more than $100 at times, including $119 in March, before it stood at $92.9 on Thursday morning.