IEA chief Mohammed Birol said on Tuesday that the conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel is creating the worst energy crisis ever faced by the world. The war has choked maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, and it has compounded the supply shock already triggered by Russia's war with Ukraine, which had severed Russian gas supplies to Europe. Birol noted that the current situation is worse than the 1973 oil crisis, the 1979 Iranian revolution, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine combined. In March, the IEA agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to curb rising prices caused by the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran. Birol told France Inter radio that "this is indeed the biggest crisis in history." He added that "the crisis is already huge, if you combine the effects of the petrol crisis and the gas crisis with Russia." The IEA's release of 400 million barrels is a record move aimed at stabilising markets amid the compounded shocks.