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Iran to Establish New Restricted Zone in Strait of Hormuz Amid Escalation
Confirmed
In Short: Iran plans to establish a new restricted zone in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy chokepoint, after recent tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated.
, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei announced the new zone, which will be announced soon and extend from the US naval blockade line into the Persian Gulf. The move comes amid ongoing tensions and a reported increase in oil tanker traffic through the strait.
Rezaei stated that new maps detailing a new international corridor, which would lie in Iranian and Omani waters, would be signed soon. The announcement follows a series of incidents involving US and Iranian ships in the strait, with both sides accusing the other of attempting to enter restricted areas.
The escalation began after Iran targeted US warships escorting oil tankers, leading to warnings from Tehran about unauthorised routes through the strait. Prior to the conflict, 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies flowed through the strait.
US Central Command rejected Iran's claim that a US vessel was attacked in a restricted area, calling it a 'total lie.' The announcement of the new zone comes as traffic in the strait has increased, with pipelines bypassing the strait likely carrying two-thirds or more of pre-conflict flows.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Iran says it plans to establish a new restricted zone around the Strait of Hormuz, a global energy chokepoint, after Tehran and Washington traded attacks on ships in the crucial waterway in what experts called a “dangerous escalation”.
- Oil tankers have become the latest targets in the US-Israel war on Iran, with Tehran repeatedly warning vessels against using unauthorised routes through the Strait of Hormuz amid reports that a growing number of oil tankers are passing through the waterway.
- The announcement comes after Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said late last month that Iran and Oman had agreed on a temporary maritime route for ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, whose entry “would be through our territorial waters, and part of the exit route would also be through our territorial waters”.
- US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins called the Iranian account “a total lie”.
- Iran first published a map of its approved navigation routes in April, directing vessels much closer to the Iranian coastline than they travelled before the war.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) objected to it, declaring that “the only authorised route” was the one announced by Iran and warning that vessels crossing without its permission would be “unacceptable and extremely dangerous”.
- Following the 14-point MoU signed in June in the Swiss city of Geneva, traffic in the strait had picked up.