Wikipedia entries for '2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis' and '2026 Strait of Hormuz campaign' confirm that Iran blocked shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz starting February 28, 2026, as part of a conflict involving the US and Israel. While the provided evidence confirms the closure and the resulting energy crisis, the specific detail that Asia was 'first and hardest hit' is implied by the nature of the Strait as a 'major maritime choke point for world energy trade' and the subsequent energy shock mentioned in the evidence for claim 1.