The US says the strategic waterway is open and Tehran has “lost complete control”
Iran has threatened to block what it calls “illegal” traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying it retains full control of the passage despite US claims to the contrary.
The waterway is one of the world’s most important energy routes, normally carrying around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Traffic through the strait has been severely disrupted since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, driving up energy prices. Brent crude was trading at around $101 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with roughly $72 before the conflict.
Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander and adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said on Wednesday that several transit routes through the strait along Oman’s coast would soon be closed.
Naqdi said the routes had been created by blasting and damaging rocky passages and were being used by small boats to carry oil through the waterway before transferring it to tankers. He described the shipments as “smuggling” and argued that they were too limited to show that traffic through Hormuz was returning to normal.
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