Key points:
- Iran says it will soon declare a new restricted Gulf zone and Hormuz shipping-corridor maps, adding any ship that enters to a sanctions list.
- Weekend strikes, including US hits on three Iranian tankers, cut Hormuz traffic to 10 ships a day, the lowest since May, lifting Brent above $97.
- Iran and the US gave clashing accounts, with Tehran citing 550 strikes on Kharg Island and Washington claiming over 9 million barrels a day still transit.
Iran said it will announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf within days, along with maps of a new shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, as a weekend exchange of strikes on ships pushed oil prices higher on Monday.
According to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the zone will begin where the US blockade of Iran starts and extend into the Gulf. Moreover, he said Iran would add any ship entering it to a sanctions list, though he gave few further details.
New Hormuz corridor with Oman
Rezaei also said Iran would approve maps for passage through Hormuz, a vital energy conduit largely closed to tankers, soon. Specifically, he said the new international corridor lies in Iranian and Omani waters under Iranian management, with signing expected within days. However, he warned Iran would keep the strait open only once the United States halts what he called sabotage, threats and attacks.
The conflict, now six months old, looks deadlocked. Furthermore, a preliminary June ceasefire has unravelled, and diplomacy has stalled. After an August lull, tit-for-tat strikes resumed, and US forces hit three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday, including one off Kharg Island, following Iranian attacks on US warships.
Blockade squeezes Iran’s economy
Consequently, shipping has thinned sharply. An average of 10 commodity ships crossed Hormuz daily over the past 10 days, the lowest since May, helping lift Brent crude 0.8 percent above 97 dollars a barrel.
Meanwhile, the US blockade is biting. According to three senior Iranian sources, the campaign to throttle oil exports and curb sanctions evasion is growing harder to withstand. Nevertheless, officials struck a defiant tone, with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warning of faster, heavier responses and Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh promising reforms rather than concessions.
Still, the two sides offered rival readings of Hormuz. Iran said Kharg Island had been hit around 550 times yet kept operating, while US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said transits averaged over 9 million barrels a day, calling it a battle the US Navy was winning.
