The dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, threatens to derail negotiations between Iran and the United States towards a broad agreement to end the conflict.
For the past three days, U.S. and Iranian forces have targeted each other after Iran attacked two ships passing through the strait.
The Iranian government insists that ships need permission to transit the strait on designated routes. However, an increasing number of ships are using the route through Oman’s coast, threatening Iran’s influence on the waterway.
Maritime analyst Windward said 18 ships passed up and 45 out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. More than half of the ships that left the bay took the southern route closer to Oman, it said.
Several large crude carriers are loading oil at Saudi and Emirates ports in preparation for crossing the strait, shipping analysts said.
The International Maritime Organization then suspended the use of the route after a cargo ship was attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.
Maritime analysts at the Alliance Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) said the increase in traffic through the southern corridor, including Western-linked ships, likely reflects “the gradual expansion of the corridor due to mine-clearing operations and a broader increase in commercial appetite for transit through the strait.”
“However, in view of (Thursday’s) ship attack and the Revolutionary Guards reportedly ordering several tankers sailing in the Southern Corridor to turn around on June 25, navigation has been delayed,” it added.
“According to the Islamabad Memorandum, control of passage and passage through the Strait of Hormuz lies with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed in a statement on Sunday.
The ministry said, “From now on, we will take stronger action against violating vessels than ever before.”
