Iran warns new Strait of Hormuz route is unacceptable and dangerous

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned shipowners that any new Strait of Hormuz transit route set up without Tehran’s coordination was “unacceptable and dangerous,” and said vessels must contact the IRGC Navy on a designated channel before transiting or face enforcement action. The Strait of Hormuz moves Gulf oil and liquefied natural gas to world markets.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved through the Gulf and met Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers in Manama at The Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, with Bahrain hosting the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Rubio told Gulf allies that any deal with Iran would take their interests into account and that Washington wanted an enduring peace that would not come at the expense of regional security. He also said no country has the right to charge fees on international waterways and that shipping tolls would not be part of any deal.

The joint U.S.-GCC statement backed “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, fees or attempts to assert control. A lasting peace would need to address Iran’s ballistic missiles, drones and support for proxy groups. Oman said future arrangements for the strait would not involve transit tolls, and Bahrain’s foreign minister welcomed Oman’s announcement of a corridor for the safe passage of vessels. Iran would allow commercial ships to pass without tolls for 60 days, after which Iran, Oman and the Gulf states would discuss future administration and maritime services under international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states.

Traffic through the strait has remained well below the more than 100 vessels a day seen before the conflict. One recent weekend reached 93 transits, and on June 22 four Qatar-controlled LNG tankers, two supertankers and two smaller crude tankers moved through the waterway. Ship operators were still mixing Iranian, Omani and International Maritime Organization route patterns rather than returning to normal traffic. In May, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, calling it an attempt to “extort global maritime trade.”