Iran plans Gulf restricted zone and new Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor
Iran said it will announce a restricted Gulf zone and approve maps for a new Strait of Hormuz shipping corridor as renewed attacks disrupted tanker traffic.
Tehran, Iran. Iran said it will announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf in the coming days and approve maps for a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, as an exchange of strikes on shipping pushed oil prices higher on Monday.
The planned zone would extend from the point where Iran says a US blockade begins into areas of the Gulf, according to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Restricted zone and shipping corridor
Rezaei said in a state television interview on Sunday that any vessel entering the new restricted zone would be added to a sanctions list. He provided few further details.
He said maps outlining passage routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy conduit that has been largely closed to tanker traffic, would be approved soon.
“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,” Rezaei said.
He added that Iran would commit to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open only if the United States stopped what he described as sabotage, threats and attacks on Iran.
Renewed military exchanges
Six months after US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked the war, the conflict appeared to be at a stalemate. A preliminary ceasefire accord reached in June has unravelled, while diplomatic efforts to revive the peace process have made little progress.
After a pause in military action for much of August, reciprocal strikes resumed. US forces struck three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, including one off Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub, US Central Command said.
The strikes followed attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on US warships in the region.
Impact on oil traffic and prices
Tehran has demonstrated that it retains the capability to attack US interests in neighbouring countries and disrupt oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of global oil supplies passed before the conflict.
An average of 10 commodity ships transited the strait daily during the past 10 days, the lowest level since May, according to shipping data released on Monday.
Oil prices extended the previous week’s gains, with Brent crude rising 0.8% to above $97 a barrel.
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