Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a new threat on Thursday to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain to try to allay their security concerns.
Iran warned ships that the only route through the strait, which is usually a vital pathway for oil and natural gas, was through its waters, in coordination with its navy, and said they should not take an alternative route, in an apparent reference to Omani territorial waters. The threat came just as shipping in the strategic waterway was surging this week after months of paralysis.
“This route is unacceptable and extremely dangerous,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said early on Thursday in a statement carried by Tasnim, an Iranian news agency tied to the guards. “We warn all vessels to strictly refrain from any movement outside the designated routes,” it added, warning that action would be taken against vessels that did not heed its instructions.
Traffic through the strait — a vital energy route that Iran and the United States blockaded during the war — has jumped this week as vessels stranded for months in the Persian Gulf began leaving. Shipping companies are seeking to take advantage of a temporary two-month window to move Middle East crude oil.
About 70 vessels transited the waterway on Wednesday, including 29 tankers, making it the busiest day since March 1, according figures offered on Thursday by Kpler, a maritime data company. Before the war, 130 or more ships passed through the strait every day.
Bahrain is the final stop of a three-country tour for Mr. Rubio, which also took him to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. At a meeting with representatives of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council in the Bahraini capital, Manama, Mr. Rubio sought to allay concerns among regional allies over a framework peace agreement with Iran that has left some of their central security questions unaddressed.
“We want to ensure that in any decisions that are made throughout this negotiating process, the interest of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account,” Mr. Rubio told the council’s representatives on Thursday.
The deal should not undermine “the security, the stability, or the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region,” he added.
Gulf Arab states have broadly welcomed efforts to end the war but remain uneasy about provisions of the preliminary agreement. The deal does not address Iran’s missile and drone programs, which Tehran used to attack Gulf countries — some of which host American military bases — after the conflict with the United States and Israel began in late February.
The crucial question of how shipping will be managed through the Strait of Hormuz also remains unresolved.
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guards, in its latest threat, repeated that coordination with the guards was “mandatory” for vessels seeking to transit the strait. Iran has insisted on this since the framework U.S.-Iran peace deal was announced last week.
The warning appeared to refer to a southern route through Omani waters, which the International Maritime Organization is using to coordinate the exits of as many as 600 ships that have been stranded in the Persian Gulf.
The Revolutionary Guards said the route had been announced without consultation and called it “unacceptable and extremely dangerous.”
Several container ships, some of which were stranded for more than three months, have also been able to leave the Persian Gulf.
The Danish shipping giant Maersk said two of its vessels had left the Gulf between late Wednesday and early Thursday after “security assessments” and consultations with regional security partners. Three Maersk vessels remain in the Gulf and are expected to leave later, the company said.
Still, this was not a clear indication that trade in the region was returning to normal.
It was unclear how the Strait of Hormuz would be managed after the two-month period that is part of the U.S.-Iran agreement expires.
Iran has asserted a right to charge ships seeking to pass through the strait and has discussed the idea with Oman. The United States has insisted that no country can charge for passage through the strait, in accordance with international law.
During his meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers on Thursday, Mr. Rubio rejected Iran’s continued claim to control passage through the strait.
“International waterways do not belong to any nation state,” he said. “This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos.”
Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.
