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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 global energy chokepoint, after recent tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated, according to reports.
Iran says it plans to establish a new restricted zone around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global energy supplies, following a recent escalation of tensions with the United States.
The latest escalation began after Iran targeted US warships patrolling and escorting oil tankers trying to evade the Tehran-imposed blockade of the strait, according to Al Jazeera.
Tehran has repeatedly warned vessels against using unauthorized routes through the Strait of Hormuz, with reports indicating that a growing number of oil tankers are passing through the waterway.
The announcement comes after Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran and Oman had agreed on a temporary maritime route for ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, with entry through Iranian territorial waters.
Captain Tim Hawkins of US Central Command (CENTCOM) rejected an Iranian claim that a US vessel had been attacked in a restricted area, calling it 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 had traveled before the conflict.
The announcement of the new restricted zone follows the signing of a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June in the Swiss city of Geneva, which has seen an increase in traffic in the strait.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Prior to the start of the war, 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies flowed through the strait.
- Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said the zone would be announced in the coming days.
- “This zone will start from the US Navy’s blockade line and include areas of the Persian Gulf,” he said, according to Iranian state media.
- Rezaei said the zone would “begin from the line of the US naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf”.
- “The maps of a new international corridor which lies in Iranian and Omani waters and in which Iran will have management have been agreed and should be signed in the coming days,” he added.
- 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”.
- When pipelines bypassing the strait are included, Wright said flows were probably at “two-thirds or more of pre-conflict flows”.