An Iranian official tells The New York Times that Tehran is furious at Oman for allowing vessels to use an alternative route through the Strait of Hormuz without IRGC coordination. The official said the move angered Iran and harmed its control over the waterway, leading Tehran to launch a drone at a vessel in the strait yesterday, effectively halting traffic. Oman is in a complex position, balancing cooperation with Iran on a traffic-management mechanism and U.S. pressure to keep the strait open freely, the official added.
An Iranian official has publicly acknowledged for the first time that Tehran deliberately targeted a drone strike at a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday in response to Oman's decision to facilitate an alternative shipping lane bypassing IRGC control. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to The New York Times, said the drone attack 'effectively stopped' maritime traffic through the strait. The admission confirms a kinetic escalation that follows weeks of IRGC threats and a formal closure of the waterway to Israel-linked vessels.
Oman's move to open an alternative routing, coordinated with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), directly challenges the IRGC's longstanding de facto authority over the world's most critical oil chokepoint. As The Zioneer has reported (June 20-25), the IRGC had warned that uncoordinated transit was 'dangerous and prohibited,' and had declared a blockade citing Israeli operations in Lebanon. The official's comments now make explicit that the drone strike was a punitive response to Oman's defiance, not a random incident.
The official described Oman's position as 'complex,' caught between U.S. pressure to keep the strait open freely and Iranian demands for a coordinated mechanism that preserves Tehran's leverage. He added that Oman cannot provide security guarantees to vessels without Iranian involvement. The admission highlights a deepening fault line between Tehran and Muscat, and suggests further kinetic incidents are possible if alternative routes persist. No independent confirmation of the drone strike or its target has yet emerged.
3 developments
- DevelopingIran claims it attacked enemy forces near Strait of Hormuz
- StrongIranian outlets claim Strait of Hormuz remains closed, contradicting US denials
- DevelopingIran loses bargaining power as Gulf states bypass it via Oman, analyst says
- DevelopingIranian FM: Strait of Hormuz is not international waters, but a shared maritime route with Oman
Source and signal
- Internal intake