The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Friday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until two conditions are met: full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and the withdrawal of American forces from the Persian Gulf and the wider region. The IRGC ordered vessels to stay away, threatening to attack any ship that disobeys, according to Iranian reports.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) hardened its position Friday afternoon, adding a demand for full US withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and the wider region to its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement circulated by Iranian channels, the IRGC warned that the waterway will remain closed until Israel fully withdraws from Lebanon and American forces leave the Gulf and the region, and ordered all vessels to keep clear — threatening to attack any ship that disobeys. The new condition expands on the terms the IRGC set earlier this week: at 19:11 Thursday, Tasnim news agency, close to the regime, had tied the closure's end to an end to the "Israeli invasion of Lebanon," and by 19:11 Friday (the initial wire version of this same escalation), Iranian authorities were also demanding the lifting of the US naval blockade.
As The Zioneer has reported, the closure itself began on June 10, when the IRGC declared the strait shut after reported US strikes on Iran's southern coast (Wednesday 20:14 Jerusalem). By Friday 13:37, shipping sources reported Iranian boats opening fire in the waterway, effectively halting all traffic. On June 13 (00:21 Jerusalem), the IRGC fired warning shots at a vessel, and blasts were heard in Jask. On June 15 (17:26 Jerusalem), the US military warned stranded commercial ships not to attempt crossing without clearance. By Thursday, June 18, the US Navy had broadcast a warning in Persian to IRGC vessels near the strait — "halt or we attack" — a report that remained single-sourced at 14:55 Jerusalem.
The current escalation unfolds against a wider backdrop of US-Iran maritime friction and stalled diplomacy: the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, referenced by Tasnim, included a clause for ending all military operations, which Iranian media argue is being violated by Israel's campaign in Lebanon. The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil supply transits, remains effectively closed, with no independent confirmation that the IRGC's expanded conditions have been formally communicated to Washington or to international shipping authorities.
4 developments
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- DevelopingIran claims it attacked enemy forces near Strait of Hormuz
- DevelopingIRGC Navy commander threatens to attack hostile warships in Strait of Hormuz
Source and signal
- Internal intake