Photo courtesy of Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority account on X
The newly established Iranian Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) announced on X on Wednesday the formal boundaries of a maritime zone under its control in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime corridor through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies pass.
“Zone runs from Kuh-e Mubarak (Iran) to south of Fujairah (UAE) in the east, and from the tip of Iran's Qeshm Island to Umm Al-Quwain (UAE) in the west,” the authority said.
All vessels seeking to transit the strait through the zone must coordinate with and obtain authorization from the PGSA, it added.
Iran restricted vessel transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the war launched against it by the United States and Israel on 28 February.
On Monday, Tehran announced the establishment of a body to manage the strait.
Despite the US blockade imposed on Iranian ports since mid-April, news reports indicated that Tehran has consolidated its control over the strait through a complex, multi-layered mechanism regulating ship passage under the supervision of the Iranian government and military forces.
“With Iran now in de facto control of the strait, the system can involve government-to-government arrangements, intense vetting by the Iranian government, checkpoints and sometimes fees in exchange for safe passage,” Reuters reported.
Reuters added that it could not independently determine how many vessels had benefited from the mechanism so far. However, it said it had proven effective in allowing several ships to pass through the strait in recent days.
The news agency also reported that three very large crude carriers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, among “a handful of supertankers exiting the Gulf this month via a transit route that Iran has ordered ships to use.”
Iran said vessels linked to the United States or Israel would not be permitted to transit the strait.
However, the US military said its naval forces intercepted and searched an Iranian-flagged oil tanker before releasing it and ordering it to “change course,” as part of Washington’s blockade on Iranian ports.
“In the Gulf of Oman, U.S. Marines boarded the commercial tanker M/T Celestial Sea, an Iranian-flagged oil tanker, suspected of attempting to violate the U.S. blockade by heading toward an Iranian port,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
It added that US forces released the vessel after inspecting it and directing its crew to alter course, noting that American forces “have so far redirected 91 commercial vessels to ensure compliance with measures imposed” on Tehran.
Amid continued tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, an unpublished analysis by US-based Synmax Intelligence said fewer than 60 vessels crossed the strait between 18 April and 6 May.
Before the war, between 120 and 140 vessels crossed the strait on a typical day, nearly half of them oil tankers.
Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, is expected to visit Iran on Thursday as Islamabad continues mediating between Iran and the United States over a possible agreement to end the war.
Meanwhile, negotiations remain stalled, with US President Donald Trump warning that the process is nearing either a breakthrough or renewed military action.
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