The sound heard in Qeshm was an air defense test, reports SNN

Reports of explosions or loud sounds in the Gulf, and particularly around Qeshm at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, have a well-worn market signature: an initial risk bid in crude and freight on fears of a strike or interdiction, followed by a sharp retrace once the event is reframed as routine military activity. This headline is of the second kind, a clarification attributing the sound to an air defense test via a semi-official Iranian outlet, and headlines of this sort have historically unwound most of the precautionary premium rather than adding to it. The relevant distinction is between tests, which are recurrent and often coincide with periods of elevated tension, and actual exchanges of fire; only the latter has tended to durably move crude, war-risk insurance, and Hormuz transit pricing. The sourcing itself is worth noting, since Iranian state-affiliated media have on past occasions used the 'defense test' framing both for genuine drills and to downplay incidents, leaving the account provisional until independent confirmation. Follow-ons that have mattered in comparable episodes are tanker traffic and insurance quotes in the strait, any corroborating or contradictory reporting, and whether the test forms part of a publicly announced exercise, which would further neutralise it.