Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned commercial vessels to use only its approved routes through the Strait of Hormuz, reopening a point of tension in fragile negotiations between the United States and Iran over the strategic waterway.
The warning came after Oman announced a new shipping transit route through the strait on Wednesday, saying it had coordinated the route with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as traffic resumes following weeks of disruption.
The dispute remains one of the unresolved issues after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding last week. The agreement largely halted hostilities in the four-month US-Israeli war on Iran and launched a 60-day negotiation process aimed at reaching a broader peace deal.
The MoU, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, followed months of severe disruption to shipping after Iran effectively closed the waterway and the US imposed a corresponding naval blockade on Iranian ports.
