Iran attempted to clear up why ships have refrained from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the danger of mines made travel without the coordination of Iran’s military hazardous.
Only four ships passed through the strait in the first 24 hours of the ceasefire, none of them oil or gas tankers, and passage stopped altogether after Israel launched airstrikes against Lebanon. Some media channels connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed the strait was “fully closed.” Tehran contradicted this, saying the waterway was open, though traffic was slow due to the danger from mines.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open. Of course, there are technical restrictions, because of the war zone and because of many arrangements that Iran did during the war, during this aggression against Iran,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told ITV in an interview, referring to Tehran’s mining of the strait.
These “technical restraints” mean that all ships trying to cross through the strait “have to communicate with our army and our military,” due to “limitations” in the “very narrow strait.”
Khatibzadeh toed a fine line, saying the Strait of Hormuz was Iranian territorial water, but also Omani territorial water, a notable reference to the only Gulf country still friendly to Tehran. He said the need for vessels to coordinate with the Iranian military was made to ensure the “safety and security of tankers and vessels.”
He also said every vessel is free to cross the strait after communicating with the Iranian military, even American vessels, barring some “hostile behavior.”
Notably, Khatibzadeh did not mention any intention by the Iranian regime to collect toll payments, which drew the ire of Washington when mentioned by lower-level Iranian officials.
The hesitance of oil and gas tankers to traverse the strait, even after a ceasefire was announced, highlights shipping companies’ lingering anxiety about the staying power of the two-week ceasefire. The failure of oil and gas tankers to begin their journey is likely to be received poorly by President Donald Trump, to whom the strait’s blockade was the greatest political cost of the war.
NO OIL TANKERS PASSED THROUGH STRAIT OF HORMUZ ON FIRST DAY OF CEASEFIRE
Maritime tracking data showed that the only vessels that crossed the Strait of Hormuz heeded Tehran’s warning, crossing through the narrow waterway on the north side of Iran’s Larak Island.
Despite the de facto closure of the strait, the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. held, with neither hitting the other for the first 24 hours. Israeli strikes on Lebanon have brought the continued holding of the ceasefire into question, however, with Tehran insisting that Lebanon be included as part of the ceasefire.
