Following a report by Barak Ravid, analysts assess that the proposed 'middle passage' through the Strait of Hormuz — described as a route in international waters, not Iranian territorial sea — would leave Iran in full control of the northern choke point and free to extort insurance fees from vessels, rather than breaking the IRGC's grip on the waterway.
Following a report by Barak Ravid on the proposed 'middle passage' through the Strait of Hormuz, a single source asserts that the initiative is an Iranian trick designed to preserve the IRGC's leverage rather than provide genuine relief to international shipping.
According to Ravid's report, the proposed route lies in international waters — outside Iran's territorial sea. However, the assessment argues this does not prevent the IRGC from maintaining its choke hold on the northern Strait of Hormuz route, which remains under Iranian threat and subject to extortion of insurance fees by the Revolutionary Guards. The southern route off Oman's coast, where tankers were attacked in recent days by the IRGC, would remain open but under continued Iranian harassment.
The analysis frames the US push for the 'middle passage' as an Iranian ruse that yields no real strategic gain for Washington. The channel's claims are not independently confirmed, and the specific details of Ravid's report are not reproduced in this batch. As The Zioneer previously reported, the IRGC has issued multiple threats against vessels deviating from the route it controls, and has claimed strikes on ships for 'illegal crossing.' A separate fleet of US Navy vessels continues to provide escort through the Omani lane, but the full scope of the 'middle passage' proposal and any official US or Iranian response remain unverified.
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Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
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