Hardline Iranian political figures have previously threatened to close the strait in the event of a US attack, but no formal decision had been announced until now.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil and gas shipments, had become unsafe due to US and Israeli attacks and was therefore closed to shipping.
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned various vessels that due to the insecure atmosphere around the strait resulting from the military aggression of the United States and Israel and Iran’s response, it is currently unsafe to transit through it,” the Tasnim news agency reported. “With the cessation of the passage of ships and tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, it has effectively been closed.”
Meanwhile, the EU’s Red Sea naval mission, Operation Aspides, told AFP that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had sent radio messages to vessels warning them not to enter the Strait of Hormuz. Ships received high-frequency radio transmissions stating that “no ship is allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Lieutenant Colonel Socrates Ravanos said.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea and is one of the most strategically important maritime routes in the world. A significant share of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports passes through it, including supplies from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Any disruption to shipping in this narrow corridor has the potential to trigger sharp increases in energy prices and serious turbulence on global markets.
Hardline Iranian political figures have previously threatened to close the strait in the event of a US attack, but no formal decision had been announced until now. | BGNES
