Hours after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said they were closing the Strait of Hormuz again, the United States said the waterway is “open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the waterway.”
The US Central Command further said that “traffic is flowing” through the strait, adding that their forces “are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations.” The US CENTCOM asserted that Iran does not control the strait, saying pathways for for free transit remained open.
“Iran does not control the international waterway used by commercial vessels to globally transport goods and energy,” CENTCOM said in a post on X. It added that the US forces had facilitated the transit of 800+ ships and over 400 million barrels of crude oil over the last two months.
“140+ ships have transited the strait in the last seven days,” it said. Global monitoring body, the Joint Maritime Information Center, had earlier reported that the southern route of the strait near Oman’s coast remained open on Sunday, even after Iran’s announcement.
Tehran attacks Gulf nations, shuts Hormuz after US strikes
US forces struck Iran for a third time in a week earlier on Sunday, following which Tehran retaliated by attacking five Gulf nations and closing the Strait of Hormuz once again “until further notice.”
The US CENTCOM said President Donald Trump had ordered fresh strikes targeting Tehran’s ability to attack commercial vessels, after Iran forces hit a Cyprus-flagged container ship near Hormuz.
Blasts were reported in Iran’s southern coast, including at the energy and petrochemical hubs of Bushehr and Asalouyeh, the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar-e Dayyer, and the Sirik area near Hormuz, Bloomberg reported. A communication tower was also struckin the southern province of Kerman, injuring two people, according to Mehr news agency.
Following this, the Islamic Republic launched drone and missile assaults on Gulf states, including Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. Minor damage was reported and no casualties known after the strikes.
While US and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding to halt fighting last month on June 17, US President three days ago said the interim ceasefire was “over”. Negotiations between both sides have been marred with strikes and threats, with Hormuz becoming a key sticking point in talks. While Iran has repeatedly asserted that it has control of the waterway, the US has sought to restore free navigation to the strait to the status quo before the war began.
