Iran Declares Restricted Zone Near Hormuz Amid Escalating Tensions

Iran has announced plans to declare a new restricted maritime zone near the Strait of Hormuz within days, according to Reuters. This move comes as an exchange of strikes on shipping pushed oil prices higher and tanker transits through the waterway fell to their lowest level since May.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Iranian state television that the zone would run from the line of the U.S. naval blockade outward through the strait and into portions of the Persian Gulf. Any vessel identified as intending to transit the Strait of Hormuz while inside the zone would be added to an Iranian sanctions list.

Rezaei also announced that Iran is negotiating a new international shipping corridor with Oman, which would allow for passage through Iranian and Omani waters. He stated that Tehran would manage passage through this corridor.