STRAIT OF HORMUZ — The U.S. State Department is seeking to create a new multinational coalition called the Maritime Freedom Construct, a joint initiative with the Pentagon to share information among partners for safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz and to coordinate diplomatic and economic actions against Iran. An internal memo announcing the body was sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts.

In the memo, diplomats were asked to pitch the multinational coordination body to foreign officials by Friday and to assure allies and partners that all levels of engagement are welcome. The diplomatic cable read, "Your participation will strengthen our collective ability to restore freedom of navigation and protect the global economy." The State Department is setting up a team as the diplomatic operations hub for the Maritime Freedom Construct, uniting partners and the commercial shipping industry. The operations hub will provide a platform to coordinate diplomatic actions and align economic measures to impose costs on Iran for disrupting maritime security.

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, normally transports around 20% of the world's oil. Iran began blocking ships from entering the strait shortly after the United States and Israel began a bombing campaign on February 28, and has attacked or threatened any ship that attempts to pass through without its permission. Vessel traffic through the waterway has declined compared with pre-war levels, and energy prices have spiked to a four-year high.

A temporary ceasefire went into effect on April 8 to allow the U.S. and Iran room to negotiate an end to the war and to reopen the strait. Those talks have not produced results. The U.S. Navy is enforcing a blockade that intercepts Iranian-linked ships at the other end of the Strait of Hormuz, and has blocked at least 41 vessels.

Bypass infrastructure is providing around 3.5 million to 5.5 million barrels per day of crude oil capacity. The East-West Pipeline, also known as Petroline, was built across Saudi Arabia in the 1980s during the original Tanker War, and its capacity was expanded to a 7 million barrel per day emergency ceiling in 2019. An Iranian drone strike on a pumping station in April knocked 700,000 barrels per day offline on the pipeline, but Saudi Aramco restored it to full capacity within three days. The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline runs from Habshan to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman side of the UAE with a capacity of just under 2 million barrels per day. Iranian drone strikes on Fujairah on March 3, 14 and 16 set storage tanks on fire and suspended loadings. Oil bound for Europe must cross Egypt via the Sumed pipeline, which has a capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day, and flows through Sumed have surged by 150% since the start of the war.