Iranian Official Says ‘Illegal Routes’ in Strait of Hormuz to Be Blocked Soon
DUBAI, Oct 8 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — Iran plans to block what it describes as “illegal routes” through the Strait of Hormuz, an adviser to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told the semi-official Fars News Agency, referring to southern passages near Oman’s coast.
Mohammadreza Naqdi said the routes had been created by blasting and damaging rocky passages in the strategic waterway and were being used by small vessels to smuggle oil and transfer it to tankers.
“The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full control over it. The situation will continue until Iran’s legitimate demands are met,” Naqdi said.
His comments challenge indications that Gulf crude exports have recovered toward levels recorded before the war.
A seven-day moving average for crude exports from the region reached 18.3 million barrels per day on September 30, according to provisional data from Kpler cited by Reuters.
Regional export volumes exceeded pre-war levels on 14 days during September, the data showed.
Those figures include Gulf crude transported through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea, as well as exports from terminals and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have disputed suggestions that maritime crude flows through the strait are recovering with assistance from the U.S. Navy.
Another IRGC adviser, Majid Mirahmadi, said an average of about 10 ships a day were transiting the waterway, compared with roughly 125 before the war began on February 28.
The conflict began after the United States and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an airstrike in Tehran, according to Reuters.
Despite stronger oil flows during September, Iranian attacks on tankers and continuing logistical constraints have raised questions over whether the higher export volumes can be sustained.
