Iran’s top diplomat warned Sunday that any attempt by ships to bypass its preferred route through the Strait of Hormuz would "increase tensions" in the Middle East, as US and Iranian forces traded attacks across the vital seaway. The exchanges underscored the fragility of a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the war launched by the United States and Israel in February, which disrupted shipping through the strait and rattled global energy markets.
Although a ceasefire took effect in April, sporadic violence has continued in the Gulf region, with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz often the spark. Early on Sunday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had attacked 10 Iranian military targets over "continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping." Iran then said it had carried out retaliatory strikes against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in response. Both Kuwait and Bahrain denounced the attacks.
Tehran has continued to insist on controlling passage through the vital strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas travel in normal times. Iran did not enjoy such control before the war. At the moment, Iran insists ships transiting the strait pass through a corridor close to its own shores, though this week dozens of vessels have travelled along the opposite side of the waterway, hugging the Omani coast.
"Any attempt to adopt new or separate arrangements compared to what is underway by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only lead to more complicated situations and delays in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and will increase the tensions," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
The strait comprises Omani and Iranian territorial waters, but under customary international law, the two cannot generally block passage or charge tolls. Tehran was angered this week by Oman’s announcement of an alternative route through the strait that hugged the Omani shoreline, which Muscat said was in conjunction with the International Maritime Organization.
A "new normal" of heightened risk and uncertain regulation is impacting the Strait of Hormuz, shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd warned Sunday, as military strikes escalated and conflicting routing directives plunged the waterway into operational chaos. The remarks from the German shipping giant also came as Tehran "simultaneously" began moving millions of barrels of crude oil from Kharg Island for the first time in days, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward AI.
"At Kharg, the T-Jetty and Western Terminal loaded simultaneously for the first time in days; the East Waiting Area holds 28 tankers, 27 dark, signaling the Iranian crude export cycle restarting," Windward AI said in a post on X. The outbound cargo consists of an estimated 4.12 million barrels of wet cargo, including crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons. Of that total, about 3.91 million barrels are crude oil, analytics firm Vortexa said.
"We have to acknowledge that this is for some months the new normal in the Persian Gulf region," Hapag-Lloyd AG spokesperson Hanja Maria Richter told Fox News Digital. "The situation has been fluid for us since the beginning of the conflict," she said before adding that constant vigilance has become essential to operating in the region.
Richter's remarks came as US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched airstrikes against Iranian targets, including Qeshm Island.