Amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has clarified that it hasn’t given Chinese ships any blanket approval to transit through the key oil and gas route.
The Iranian consulate in Mumbai said in a post on X that the Islamic Republic didn’t grant a Chinese bulk carrier passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran didn’t grant passage to a Chinese vessel. The bulk carrier SUN PROFIT, owned and crewed by Chinese nationals, was forced to abruptly change course and turn back. Contrary to popular belief, #Iran doesn’t give blanket approval to Chinese ships,” the consulate’s post read.
The post also carried a screenshot of the vessel’s navigation, showing that it had to turn back before entering the strait.
This comes as Iran closed the key waterway, which is used to transit about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and natural gas, amid the Islamic Republic’s war with the US and Israel. While Iran had opened up the strait on Friday, it slammed it shut again on Saturday due to the continued US blockade of the Iranian ports amid the 14-day ceasefire.
According to the tracking website Marine Traffic, the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier Sun Profit is currently anchored in the Persian Gulf. It was travelling back to China from Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Two Indian ships shot at near the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s clarification about Chinese vessels comes a day after two Indian-flagged vessels were shot at by Iranian gunboats near the Strait of Hormuz.
The shipping ministry has identified the two vessels as the Sanmar Herald, a crude oil tanker, and the Jag Arnav, a bulk carrier.
This marks the first time that Iranian forces have fired upon Indian-flagged or owned merchant vessels in the war-torn waterway. The episode comes even as multiple Indian-flagged ships have continued to pass through the strait in recent weeks without incident – the MT Desh Garima, one such vessel, transited the strait at 1 PM IST on Saturday and is bound for Mumbai. As reported by HT earlier, at least nine vessels had safely crossed the route recently, while 13 more remain in the Persian Gulf.
Both ships were transiting the Strait of Hormuz when they were reportedly fired upon by boats of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The vessels turned back following the incident. Importantly, no injuries were reported.
According to Marine Traffic, Sanmar Herald was en route to India carrying crude oil from Iraq, while Jag Arnav had departed from Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and was also headed towards India. In response, the external affairs ministry moved quickly. Iranian ambassador Mohammed Fathali was “called in” for a meeting with foreign secretary Vikram Misri on Saturday evening.
“During the meeting, the foreign secretary conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Misri underlined India’s importance to maritime safety and reminded the Iranian side of its earlier role in facilitating the safe passage of India-bound ships.
“Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, the foreign secretary urged the ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the strait,” Jaiswal added.
Fathali, according to the ministry, undertook to convey India’s concerns to authorities in Tehran.
