Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it coordinated the transit of 26 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, as talks between Washington and Tehran over the resumption of traffic through the narrow waterway remain stalled.
“Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is being carried out with permission and in coordination with the IRGC Navy,” the statement reads.
Later on Wednesday, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) published a new map of Hormuz, marking a controlled maritime zone that vessels will not be able transit without its authorisation.
The authority said the zone stretches from Kuh-e Mubarak in Iran to south of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, at the eastern entrance of the strait, and from the tip of Qeshm Island to Umm al-Quwain at the western entrance.
About a fifth of global energy exports used to pass through the strait before the beginning of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on February 28, which prompted Tehran to blockade the waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports, choking Iranian oil exports – the country’s key source of revenue. The standoff has put huge strain on global energy markets as well as raising concerns over a looming humanitarian catastrophe.
