Photo: Collected
Iran has issued a stern threat to shut down the movement of so-called ‘illegal’ vessels through the strategically highly important Strait of Hormuz. Although Washington claims Iran no longer has influence over this waterway, Tehran has clearly said its complete control over the entire strait remains in place.
Through this route, one of the world’s main energy transport routes, around one-fifth of the world’s total supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) is carried in normal times. However, since the war began between Iran and the joint US-Israeli forces in late February this year, movement in this strait has been severely disrupted, as a result of which fuel prices in the world market rose manifold. Before the recent war, the price of Brent crude oil was around $72 per barrel, which has risen to reach around $101.
Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and military adviser to the country’s supreme leader, said in a statement that several routes of the strait along the Oman coast will soon be completely closed.
Giving an explanation, Naqdi said these artificial routes have been created by destroying and damaging rocky passages. They were being used for smuggling oil in very small boats and delivering it to large tankers. Directly terming the matter ‘smuggling’, he argued that transport of such a small quantity never proves that normal shipping has returned to the Strait of Hormuz.
Issuing a strong warning, this senior IRGC official said the Strait of Hormuz is completely closed and Iran’s armed forces have full control over it. He further said these strict restrictions and the blockade will remain in place until Tehran’s ‘just and legitimate demands’ are fully met. It may be mentioned that Iran had earlier proposed that the strait would be reopened only if Washington reduced military pressure and lifted the blockade on Iranian ports.
However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has presented a completely opposite assessment. He claims this strategic waterway is now completely ‘open’ and Iran has lost its complete control over the Strait of Hormuz.
At a press conference, Rubio said almost the same amount of oil is now coming out as used to flow through there before the conflict began.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has claimed their military is directly assisting the safe passage of oil tankers through the strait and as a result daily oil supply has exceeded 20 million barrels. Without blaming this Middle East conflict for the global diesel crisis, he mainly blamed Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries and called upon Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop such attacks immediately.
Preliminary data from news agency Reuters and Kpler show that regional crude oil exports have recovered to a large extent. Data of oil shipments of 18.3 million barrels per day on a seven-day average up to 30 September have been found, which also include oil sent through alternative routes other than the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: RT
