Iranian authorities on Thursday unveiled alternative maritime routes for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz due to the threat posed by sea mines in key sections of the strategic waterway, according to Arab News.
According to the ceasefire signed between the US and Iran, Tehran has agreed to a temporary reopening of the strait as part of a two-week truce.
“All ships intending to transit the Strait of Hormuz are hereby notified that in order to comply with the principles of maritime safety and to be protected from possible collisions with sea mines…they should take alternative routes for traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement quoted by local media.
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, targeting its leadership and triggering a new conflict in the Middle East.
Iran has been responding with a retaliatory counterattack in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi as a retaliatory move, while launching barrages of missiles and drones toward Israel.
The conflict has spread across the Middle East, leaving thousands dead, triggering unprecedented disruptions to energy supplies especially after the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
As a critical waterway, the Strait of Hormuz handles approximately a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and roughly one‑fifth of all liquefied natural gas flows.
Due to the escalating tensions, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that the waterway was unsafe. Therefore, the authorities halted ship movements.
Iran has later declared that the strait remains accessible to vessels from “friendly countries,” while blocking passage for those it considers adversaries.
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