The US says the strategic waterway is open and Tehran has \u201clost complete control\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran has threatened to block what it calls \u201cillegal\u201d traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying it retains full control of the passage despite US claims to the contrary.
\nThe waterway is one of the world\u2019s most important energy routes, normally carrying around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Traffic through the strait has been severely disrupted since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February, driving up energy prices. Brent crude was trading at around $101 a barrel on Wednesday, compared with roughly $72 before the conflict.
\nMohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander and adviser to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, said on Wednesday that several transit routes through the strait along Oman\u2019s coast would soon be closed.
\nNaqdi said the routes had been created by blasting and damaging rocky passages and were being used by small boats to carry oil through the waterway before transferring it to tankers. He described the shipments as \u201csmuggling\u201d and argued that they were too limited to show that traffic through Hormuz was returning to normal.<\/p>\n
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\u201dThe Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full control over it,\u201d Naqdi said, adding that the restrictions would remain until Tehran\u2019s \u201clegitimate demands\u201d were met.
\nIran has previously offered to reopen the strait if Washington eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a sharply different assessment on Wednesday, saying the strait is \u201copen\u201d and that Iran had \u201clost complete control\u201d of Hormuz.
\n\u201dThere\u2019s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began,\u201d Rubio told reporters.<\/p>\n
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President Donald Trump has also said the US military is helping oil shipments pass through the strait, claiming that daily flows have risen above 20 million barrels. He has blamed the global diesel shortage primarily on Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries rather than the Middle East conflict and has urged Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky to halt the attacks.
\nRegional crude exports have rebounded significantly. A seven-day moving average reached 18.3 million barrels per day on September 30, according to provisional Kpler data cited by Reuters. The figure includes oil shipped through routes other than Hormuz.
\nSecurity risks in the strait remain high. The Panamanian-flagged tanker On Peace was hit by a projectile near Oman on Tuesday, injuring 12 crew members, according to the Indian authorities. No group has claimed responsibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US says the strategic waterway is open and Tehran has \u201clost complete control\u201d Iran has threatened to block what it calls \u201cillegal\u201d traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t