Iran's IRGC set to declare new ‘sanctions zone’ beyond Hormuz: What to know
The latest Iranian effort to assert control over waterways in the region follows heavy US strikes targeting oil tankers.
An Iranian official said on Wednesday the Islamic Republic will unveil a “sanctions zone” extending beyond the Strait of Hormuz as Iran looks to consolidate authority over the waterway amid increased US military action.
What happened: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi told reporters that the zone would begin at the southeast port of Chabahar and include parts of the Sea of Oman, the Arabian Sea and other “routes that could lead to the Strait of Hormuz,” the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.
Mohebbi said that ships entering the zone would be subject to “sanctions measures” including restrictions on future voyages through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said when a ship that enters the zone “next visits the Strait of Hormuz, it will not be able to use it, and we will also refuse to provide services to it in cases such as port, insurance and other required services.”
Mohebbi did not specify that military action would be taken against ships entering the area, unlike the Strait of Hormuz itself, which he called the “main area for confrontation.”
Why it matters: US Central Command said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers overnight in response to the IRGC targeting a US Navy warship and posted footage of ships ablaze. The IRGC in turn announced strikes on two US warships as well as eight tankers on Wednesday. The British maritime security organization UKMTO reported on Wednesday that several merchant vessels were subjected to military fire in the northern part of the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, just south of Hormuz.
Later on Wednesday, the UKMTO reported that a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile off the coast of Iraq, making the past 24 hours among the most dangerous for seafarers since the war began.
Tit-for-tat fighting between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz resumed earlier this month, and Iran is striving to control traffic through the strategic waterway. On Sunday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said that Iran would soon announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf as well as a new shipping corridor through Hormuz. Rezaei said any vessel entering the zone would be placed on a sanctions list, apparently referring to the plan outlined by Mohebbi.
Tehran has said that all ships traversing the strait must use the route it has set. Iran and Oman, the other state bordering the strait, have been engaged in talks on a new shipping route, but no definitive agreement has been reached.
Amid the ongoing US naval blockade of Iran, traffic in Hormuz is falling as just six vessels crossed on Tuesday, down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day average of around 12, Reuters reported, citing data from the tracker Kpler. Before the war, around 130 ships typically traversed the strait on a daily basis.
Iran has declared control of areas extending beyond the Strait of Hormuz before. In May, Iran's new Persian Gulf Strait Authority published a map showing “areas under Iranian armed forces oversight” that included coastal areas of the United Arab Emirates.
