IRGC unblocks Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is once again open to tanker traffic "until further notice", according to General Mohsen Rezaei, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and current Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, as reported by the Financial Times.

At the same time, the US forces remain legitimate targets for Iranian strikes, the Iranian official warned.

Rezaei stated that the Iranian government, recognizing the strait's critical importance to global energy supplies, had decided to allow ships to pass through the strait connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean "until further notice".

The decision comes after analysts warned that a continued blockade could cause Brent crude prices to surge by nearly one-third, potentially exceeding $90 per barrel when markets open on March 2. Approximately 30% of the world's seaborne oil trade transits the Strait of Hormuz.

As previously reported, approximately nine hours after the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets the IRGC had begun implementing Iran's primary retaliatory measure in the event of aggression - to block the strait. Naval forces had been broadcasting warnings to vessels in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, declaring them prohibited from transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Multiple ships remained stranded near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas during the closure, though no official announcement regarding the blockade had been issued at that time.