An adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says Tehran plans to shut down the few remaining Strait of Hormuz passages it considers illegal, as Iran seeks to tighten control over a waterway that remains critical to global oil and gas shipments.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Iran plans to block what it describes as the few remaining unauthorized transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps adviser said Wednesday, increasing pressure on a strategic waterway already heavily disrupted by the U.S.-Iran war.
Mohammadreza Naqdi, an adviser to the commander of the IRGC, told Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency that the routes are concentrated near Oman’s coast and were created by damaging or blasting through rocky passages in the strait.
Naqdi said the passages are being used by “small boats smuggling oil and transferring it to tankers,” according to Reuters.
“The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full control over it. This situation will continue until Iran’s legitimate demands are met,” Naqdi said.
His description does not mean that all maritime traffic through Hormuz has stopped.
Commercial vessels continue to move through the strait, but at sharply reduced levels and under heightened security risks. Iran has sought to control or deter traffic while some exporters and shippers have found alternative ways to move cargo through the waterway.
Another IRGC adviser recently said average daily ship movements through Hormuz had fallen from about 125 before the war to roughly 10, according to Reuters.
Iran’s latest threat comes as Gulf energy exports have partially recovered despite continued attacks and harassment in the strait.
Middle Eastern crude exports briefly rose above prewar levels late last month, while liquefied natural gas shipments through Hormuz reached their highest monthly level since the war began.
That rebound has challenged Tehran’s claims of complete control.
Reuters reported that Middle East crude exports recently reached roughly 14.2 million barrels per day through the strait, about 80% of prewar levels, although freight, insurance and security costs remain extremely high.
Iran has disputed suggestions that the increase means its leverage over the waterway is weakening.
Naqdi characterized some of the remaining traffic as smuggling rather than legitimate commercial transit and said Tehran intends to eliminate those routes.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman, has historically carried close to one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, making it one of the most strategically important maritime chokepoints in the global energy system.
Its importance has become even more pronounced during the current conflict.
The U.S.-Iran war began Feb. 28 and has disrupted tanker traffic, damaged energy infrastructure and driven global oil prices sharply higher.
Brent crude was trading above $100 a barrel Wednesday as markets continued to assess whether recent gains in Gulf exports could be sustained.
Security conditions remain unstable.
At least 12 incidents involving oil, LNG and LPG tankers were reported in the Strait of Hormuz between Sept. 28 and Oct. 5, the highest weekly number since the war began, according to maritime security sources cited by Reuters.
The incidents included attacks, drone surveillance and harassment attributed to Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces.
In one case, 12 crew members aboard the Panama-flagged tanker On Peace were injured when the vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the strait.
Iran has also begun imposing financial penalties on vessels it considers unauthorized.
A spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission said in September that commercial ships passing through Hormuz without Tehran’s permission could be fined 20% of the value of their cargo and temporarily seized until the penalty is paid. (Dawn)
Despite Tehran’s pressure, Gulf producers have continued looking for ways to maintain exports.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other regional exporters have relied on a combination of tanker escorts, alternative pipelines and modified shipping arrangements.
Energy companies are also pushing for new export routes that would reduce dependence on Hormuz.
Executives from major oil companies said this week that the conflict has exposed the danger of relying too heavily on a small number of maritime chokepoints. Several producers are studying or expanding pipeline routes toward the Mediterranean and the UAE port of Fujairah.
Iran’s leverage remains substantial because alternatives cannot yet replace all of the oil and gas normally shipped through the strait.
Global energy inventories have also been depleted during the conflict, leaving buyers with less ability to compensate if Hormuz flows fall again.
The latest comments from Naqdi therefore raise the possibility of another tightening in supply if Iran succeeds in blocking passages currently used to bypass restrictions.
They also highlight the gap between Tehran’s political characterization of the strait as “closed” and the actual shipping data, which show reduced but significant commercial traffic continuing to pass through.
For oil markets, that distinction matters.
The more routes Iran successfully blocks or disrupts, the more dependent global consumers become on the remaining heavily guarded shipping lanes and limited pipeline alternatives — leaving energy prices increasingly vulnerable to each new escalation in the Strait of Hormuz.
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