The IRGC warned that any vessel navigating outside Tehran’s designated routes was acting illegally, directly rejecting Oman’s newly announced temporary corridor, as Rubio told a GCC meeting the US would not accept fees regardless of how they are framed.
Iran’s IRGC warned on Thursday that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz must use routes designated by Tehran and that any ship navigating outside those routes was doing so illegally, directly challenging Oman’s announcement of a new temporary corridor running close to its own coast.
“All parties are hereby informed that the only authorized routes for passing through the Strait of Hormuz are those announced by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the IRGC said in a statement.
“Navigation outside these designated routes is highly dangerous and prohibited,” the statement warned.
The statement said a route announced hours earlier — which it did not name but that matched Oman’s proposed corridor — was “unacceptable and completely dangerous” and had been decided on “without prior notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“Violators will be dealt with,” it added without elaborating.
IRGC-affiliated media claimed three oil tankers using Oman’s southern corridor had turned back into the Persian Gulf after receiving warnings from the IRGC Navy.
South Korea’s Oceans Ministry said separately that five South Korean-operated vessels had successfully exited the strait on Thursday, indicating traffic was still moving.
Iran’s parliament National Security Commission secretary Behnam Saeedi said control of the waterway was “fully and firmly in the hands of Iran’s military forces” and warned that “any miscalculation in this maritime area will be met with a decisive response.”
He said Iran expected the US to demonstrate compliance with the framework deal — including the release of frozen assets and the lifting of maritime restrictions — in practice rather than in statements.
Iranian hardliners have been applying pressure on the negotiating team, citing a written message attributed to Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in which he said he had reservations about the framework deal but ultimately approved it.
The message has been used by hardline factions to argue Tehran should not give up its leverage over the strait.
Rubio rejects Tehran’s tolls
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at a GCC ministerial meeting in Bahrain on Thursday, said Washington would not accept any fees or tolls under any description.
He also criticised Iran’s hard-liners for going “on their official media and making all kinds of pronouncements” that he described as not true.
“You can call it a toll, you can call it a fee, at the end of the day it’s all semantics,” Rubio said.
Rubio further stated no country owns the Strait of Hormuz and therefore no country has the right to charge for its use.
“There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” Rubio said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa leave after their meeting, at Al-Sakhir Palace near Zallaq, Bahrain Thursday, June 25, 2 AP Photo
Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi said at the same meeting that Muscat had a special responsibility as a coastal state to support international efforts to secure navigation in line with international law and UNCLOS, and said any future arrangements for the strait would not involve transit fees.
Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had assured Washington it was not seeking to impose fees, and threatened to immediately halt negotiations if that proved false.
Despite the competing claims, shipping data from the International Maritime Organisation showed a gradual normalisation of traffic.
A total of 13 vessels transited on Tuesday, 32 on Wednesday, and 12 by Thursday morning, under a UN-coordinated evacuation plan to clear hundreds of stranded vessels and thousands of seafarers from the area.
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 1 March, 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.
Oil markets continued to ease, with Brent crude falling to its lowest level since 27 February, the day before the war began.