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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that a new “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz would cover parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, adding that exact coordinates would be announced later.
“It approximately starts from the direction of Chabahar, covering part of the Sea of Oman and another part of the Arabian Sea,” IRGC spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohibbi told state television.
“If a vessel enters that area without coordination, it will be subject to our sanctions,” he added.
Tehran said the move comes in response to the U.S. blockade and would create a restricted zone across wide waters extending from Chabahar to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
According to Iranian media, Mohibbi said Iran was expanding the scope of maritime traffic management and control in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not merely a maritime passage; it has become one of the determining equations of the global order and developments in the war,” Mohibbi said.
“In the past, the scope considered for managing ship traffic was limited to the Strait of Hormuz, and now the area of this scope has expanded,” he added.
Mohibbi said the exact coordinates and details of the restricted zone would be announced “at the appropriate time.”
“If a ship passes through the sanctioned area of the Strait of Hormuz without coordination, all maritime, insurance and support services provided to that ship will be suspended,” he said.
“Thus, it will be deprived of these services even during a later passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei announced on Sept. 8 that Iran would create a “prohibited zone” across and around the Persian Gulf in response to the U.S. blockade.
The announcement comes amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict, which has increasingly extended to maritime routes in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, with both sides reporting attacks on military and commercial vessels.
Earlier Wednesday, the IRGC said it had targeted two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in response to U.S. attacks on five Iranian oil tankers.
The developments are the latest in a series of attacks involving commercial and military vessels amid heightened tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for global energy shipments.
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