US and Iran at loggerheads over Hormuz blockade

No ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the imposition of the blockade on Monday, the US said, contradicting claims by Iran that two of its ships crossed the strait without concealment. 

In a post on X, the US Central Command said its guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance successfully redirected an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that tried to evade the US blockade on Wednesday after leaving Bandar Abbas.

“Ten vessels have now been turned around and ZERO ships have broken through since the start of the US blockade on Monday,” the post said.

Iran’s Fars News Agency, however, said that two ships entered Iranian waters from open waters on Wednesday without any concealment and with tracking transponders activated.

The first – a US-sanctioned very large crude carrier that is capable of carrying a million barrels of crude oil – entered Iranian waters on Wednesday without any interference, the report claimed.

The second Iranian ship passed through open waters and the Strait of Hormuz later on Wednesday, heading towards Iran’s Imam Khomeini Port.

Further reading:

• Call it what it is: the War of Hormuz
• Why Hormuz is no Suez or Panama
• Tanker flows shift away from Hormuz to the Atlantic

Since the start of the US blockade on Monday, 15 vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, nine of which are linked to Iran, the BBC reported, citing ship-tracking data.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Iran may consider allowing ships to sail freely through the Omani side of the strait without risk of attack.

However, Iran warned the US on Wednesday that it will not allow any exports or imports to take place in the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea if the illegal naval blockade of Iran continues, Fars News reported.
The US-Israeli and Iran war has effectively blocked the strait, a strip of water only 34km wide between Iran and Oman, which handles 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows.