DUBAI — Iran said it will announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf in the coming days, along with maps of a shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz that Tehran would manage with Oman, Reuters reported via Channel News Asia, after a weekend of tit-for-tat strikes on shipping pushed oil higher.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told state TV the zone would begin where the U.S. blockade starts and extend into Gulf waters, with any ship entering it added to a sanctions list. “We will only commit to the Strait of Hormuz being open when they (the Americans) stop the sabotage, threats and attacks on Iran,” he said. Maps of a corridor in Iranian and Omani waters “have been agreed and should be signed in the coming days,” Rezaei added.
U.S. Central Command said Saturday it struck three Iranian oil tankers after IRGC attacks on U.S. warships. Brent crude traded above $97 a barrel Monday. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN Strait transits were averaging over 9 million barrels a day with pipelines around the waterway covering roughly two-thirds of pre-conflict flows.
Sources: Reuters via CNA.
