Iran urges ships to stop using Omani corridor in Hormuz

Written by journalist Danylo Aleksandrov

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a warning to ships that navigate the Strait of Hormuz waters outside of their approved routes urging them to stop it. This violates the agreements reached previously.

On Thursday IRGC released their demand to all ships intending to navigate through the waterway. This happens just hours after the announcement coming from Oman, which assigned a new, temporary corridor that goes close to the country’s coast. IRGC stated that only routes authorized by Islamic Republic are permitted, warning that using other corridors is “is highly dangerous and prohibited”. A more specific part of the ultimatum says that “Violators will be dealt with”, though without additional details.

After this media connected to IRGC claimed that 3 tankers have turned back to the Gulf waters after attempting to go via Oman’s corridor. At the same time, Oceans Ministry of South Korea reported that 5 vessels belonging to their country have managed to exit Hormuz on Thursday. This shows that the maritime traffic is still going, at least for the moment.

Behnam Saeedi, who is National Security Commission secretary (a structure in Iranian parliament) said that the country’s armed forces are in control of the strait. He also made statements regarding US, calling on them to honor the framework deal, which includes giving Iran back its frozen assets and lifting of several restrictions.

At the same time, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during GCC ministerial meeting held in Bahrain made it clear that the US would not support any tolls put up by Iran for the ships passing through Hormuz. He emphasized, that as no country has the ownership over the waterway, nobody has the right to charge vessels for using it.

Although both sides make differentiating statements and giving different information, data provided by the International Maritime Organization shows that the traffic in Hormuz is slowly normalizing. According to it 12 ships went through the Strait on Thursday, with 32 passing on Wednesday.