The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Thursday that only routes approved by Iran may be used in the Strait of Hormuz, calling prior coordination with the IRGC Navy mandatory. Ships that violate the guidelines will be dealt with, the IRGC said in a statement.
The IRGC escalated its Strait of Hormuz posture again on Thursday, this time mandating that vessels use only Iran-approved routes and coordinate in advance with the IRGC Navy. The midday warning, reported by The Zioneer, goes beyond earlier demands — which focused on Channel 16 coordination and labeling uncoordinated transit "illegitimate and dangerous" — by explicitly requiring route discipline and threatening consequences for violations.
The new directive is the latest in a series of IRGC pronouncements on the same thread since early Thursday. At 04:48 Jerusalem, the first thread item warned that uncoordinated sailing was "unacceptable and dangerous" (version 1), followed within minutes by an insistence on IRGC-approved routes (version 3), a call for Channel 16 coordination (version 4), and a specific warning against a newly declared non-aligned shipping lane (version 5). By 04:48, the IRGC had already escalated to demanding mandatory coordination via Channel 16 and threatening enforcement (version 6). A subsequent bulletin at 11:44 Jerusalem reiterated the demand for coordination via Channel 16. All warnings carry the same underlying threat: vessels that deviate from approved routes risk being attacked or dealt with,
As The Zioneer reported earlier this week, the IRGC has also imposed mandatory insurance requirements on vessels transiting the strait (Fri Jun 19, 18:27 Jerusalem) and declared the waterway closed to Israel-linked vessels (Sat Jun 20, 23:29 Jerusalem). Other recent bulletins have cited Iranian sources threatening to attack any vessel crossing (Fri Jun 19, 14:10 Jerusalem) and the IRGC Navy issuing a "severe danger" warning (Sat Jun 20, 21:12 Jerusalem).
No real-world enforcement action by the IRGC has been independently confirmed as of Thursday afternoon. The warnings remain general — no specific vessels, routes, or deadlines have been named.
10 developments
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Source and signal
- Internal intake