Iran warns oil tankers to use approved routes in Strait of Hormuz or face a ’forceful response’

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - July 02, 2026 10:36 pm IST - DUBAI Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz. File | Photo Credit: Reuters Iran’s joint military command warned on Thursday (July 2, 2026) that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a “forceful response,” ratcheting up tensions again over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies. The strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has emerged as one of the top issues in negotiations seeking a permanent end to the Iran war. The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both U.S. and Iranian diplomats met with mediators Wednesday in Qatar. It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the threat from Iran. However, the U.S. military’s Central Command had put out a statement about a meeting with officials from West Asian nations in Bahrain that said “leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through” the strait. That appears to have been the phrase that angered Iran, which is preparing for the funeral that begins this weekend for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the war’s first moments in February. “Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels,” the Iranian statement said. It also said the continued presence of U.S. fighter jets over the strait “causes insecurity in this waterway and threatens regional security.” “Any attempt by the United States to interfere in security matters or any disruptive action in the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a threat to Iran’s national sovereignty and will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction,” the Iranian warning added. Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway. In a report apparently aimed at bolstering Tehran’s claims to control the strait, Iranian state television said this week that a foreign ship got stuck in the waterway after ignoring instructions from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, the vessel’s shape, reported location and other details indicate the ship is tied to Iran and appears to have been stranded for months. The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they won’t agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait. An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend, highlighting the tensions. Despite the tensions, Wednesday’s talks saw “positive progress,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said. He told journalists that Pakistan hoped the next round of talks would be scheduled as soon as possible after Khamenei’s funeral. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Iran warns oil tankers to use approved routes in Strait of Hormuz or face a ’forceful response’

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Iran warns oil tankers to use approved routes in Strait of Hormuz or face a ’forceful response’

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