A series of tankers made their way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday despite threats to shipping from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, using a new route close to Oman’s shore that has been promoted by a UN maritime agency.
The development comes as tensions rise between Iran and the United States over their interim accord aimed at permanently ending the Iran war. From getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the sides are increasingly debating the terms of the deal signed last week.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the US and Iran agreed to a 60-day period to iron out the details. Until that happens – during private talks – leaders from both countries will also continue to negotiate in public, raising the risks of derailing the shaky ceasefire in the region.
On a trip to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Thursday with Gulf Arab officials in Bahrain, the Persian Gulf island kingdom home to the Navy’s 5th Fleet, trying to assuage their concerns.
The flareup of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants has threatened the deal. On Wednesday, Israel launched an airstrike that killed two people in southern Lebanon, the country’s state-run news agency said. It was Israel’s first airstrike on Lebanon since the latest ceasefire took effect on Saturday.
The oil tankers, led by the Stoic Warrior vessel, sailed along the coast of the United Arab Emirates and then Oman on Thursday morning.
The vessel then traveled around Oman’s Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore, part of a route that Oman laid out alongside the International Maritime Organization, a U.N. agency that oversees shipping at sea.
North of the route is the Traffic Separation Scheme corridor, in the center of the strait, where ships had moved through freely before the war, transporting about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.
However, at least one mine was sighted there after the Guard said that it mined the passage during the war, which started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran – and the threat of mines shuttered the route.
Though some ships had been getting out of the strait, with US military support, the U.N. agency’s effort is the latest to free trapped vessels. The shipping company Maersk said its container ship the Maersk Baltimore and another chartered vessel had also made it out the strait on Thursday.
Last week, 125 vessels crossed the strait, up from 33 the week before, according to marine data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Marine data firm Kpler reported 70 passages on Wednesday, the highest since March 1, the day after the war began.
Still, that is below the daily average of 130 or more from before the war.
“Opportunistic operators – and there are many of them – emboldened by the lower transit risk, or at least the perceived lower transit risk, have begun chasing the backlog of trapped cargoes that built up during the conflict,” said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief at Lloyd’s List.
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard, apparently reacting to the new IMO’s route and the increased traffic, issued an angry warning Thursday, carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
“A few hours ago, without notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, some authorities announced a new route for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is unacceptable and completely dangerous,” the Guard said.
“It is hereby notified to all that the only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”
“Violators will be dealt with,” it added, without elaborating.
There were no immediate reports of any incidents in the strait. On Wednesday, however, the Guard threatened one tanker over the radio, with a soldier warning “you are in range of my missiles and maybe (I) fire on you,” according to the private security firm Ambrey.
The US secretary of state met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, trying to assure them their interests would be protected in any agreement reached with Iran, including when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz.
“The interest of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account,” Rubio said. “There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability of the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region.”
The GCC countries have expressed reservations about the limitation of the US-Iran deal signed last week, including conflicting claims over the strait and the fact that the memorandum of understanding does not specifically cover Iran’s nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani thanked the US for its support, saying that because of the agreement, “today we see a glimmer of hope for our region” but stressed that Iran must comply with its commitments.
“It is critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations,” al-Zayani said.
Israel’s military said on Thursday that a reservist soldier was killed and another hurt in southern Lebanon, where troops are occupying swaths of the country. At least 37 soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel during the fighting, as well one civilian defense contractor. Two civilians in northern Israel have also been killed.
Over 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since this latest Israel-Hezbollah war began in March, two days after the Iran war started and when the Lebanese militant group fired at Israel.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
