A Liberian oil tanker has made its way out of the Strait of Hormuz using a new route close to Oman’s shore that has been promoted by a U.N. maritime agency.
This comes despite threats to shipping from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The transit of the Stoic Warrior and the threats come as tensions are mounting between Iran and the United States as they navigate the delicate terms of an interim accord designed to bring a permanent end to the ongoing conflict. The agreement, signed last week, has initiated a 60-day period for both nations to resolve critical issues, from naval passage through the narrow Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s highly enriched uranium reserves.
While private discussions are underway to finalise the memorandum of understanding, leaders from both sides continue to engage in public negotiations. This dual approach risks undermining the fragile ceasefire currently in place across the region.
Further complicating the peace efforts is a recent escalation of fighting in Lebanon. An Israeli airstrike on Wednesday killed two people in the country’s south, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency. This marked Israel’s first such action in Lebanon since the latest ceasefire came into effect on Saturday, highlighting the volatile situation involving the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.
The Stoic Warrior — signaling that it planned to transit the Strait of Hormuz — took off early Thursday morning on a trip that saw it hug the coast of the United Arab Emirates and then Oman.
The vessel then traveled around Oman’s Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore, part of a route that Oman laid out alongside the International Maritime Organization, an agency of the United Nations that oversees shipping at sea.
North of the route is the Traffic Separation Scheme, the route in the center of the strait that for decades ships moved through freely. The route is used for transport of about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.
However, there has been the report of at least one mine sighted in the water after the Guard said that it mined the passage during the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The threat of mines shut off the route.
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard, apparently reacting to Oman and the IMO’s route, gave an angry warning Thursday, carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
“A few hours ago, without notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, some authorities announced a new route for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is unacceptable and completely dangerous,” the Guard said.
“It is hereby notified to all that the only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”
It added: “Violators will be dealt with,” without elaborating.
There were no immediate reports of any incidents in the strait as the Stoic Warrior passed. Several ships trailed behind it, according to ship-tracking data.
Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, warned Iran on Thursday over trying to impede the strait or put fees on vessels plying its waters.
“New geopolitical facts cannot be imposed on the Arab Gulf states as a result of a treacherous aggression against them,” Gargash wrote on X. “It sows new seeds of discord and conflict for the future. And this is precisely what applies to the Strait of Hormuz.”
