Threat to shipping escalates as Iran and US trade threats over Strait of Hormuz
IRAN has threatened to impose an extended total closure of the Strait of Hormuz if US President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to “obliterate” its power plants.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command centre on Sunday threatened to indefinitely close the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic and to launch attacks against oil and energy targets across the region, in response to Donald Trump’s threats to strike the country’s power plants.
Trump on Saturday had threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours — a significant escalation less than a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week.
A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a televised statement that Iran had so far only closed the strait to the “enemy” and “harmless passage” was still being carried out.
The spokesperson then warned the strait would remain completely closed “until all our destroyed power plants are rebuilt”.
The latest escalation of threats came amid a flurry of diplomatic exchanges over the weekend as governments sought to engage Tehran over the transit of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the importance of keeping shipping lanes open and secure in a call with Iran’s President Ahmad Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi separately held calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaya Kallas, and Oman Foreign Minister Seyyed Badr Al Busaidi.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar later on Sunday reported that Iranian officials had stressed during a phone call that the normalization of the situation in strait depended on the “cessation of attacks and aggression” by US and Israel, and that any halt to the war must be accompanied by guarantees preventing the recurrence of such actions.
Separately, Iran’s representative to the International Maritime Organization was quoted in Iranian media reports as saying that the Strait of Hormuz remained open to all shipping except vessels linked to “Iran's enemies”.
Lloyd’s List has approached Iran’s IMO representative who had reportedly made the statement prior to Trump’s threat via social media to attack Iranian power plants if the strait was not “fully open” within 48 hours.
US statements regarding the progress of its campaign against Iran and the status of the Strait of Hormuz have been rapidly evolving over recent days.
On Saturday, the US said Iran’s ability to threaten marine traffic in the strait had been “degraded” after it took out a facility along the Iranian coastline earlier this week.
“Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz is degraded as a result and we will not stop pursuing these targets,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command said in a video posted on X. He said the military also destroyed Iranian intelligence support sites and missile radar relays used to monitor ship movements.
That statement followed an announcement on Friday confirming that the US would allow countries to buy Iranian oil stranded at sea in an effort to tame energy prices.
The temporary waiver unveiled by the US Treasury in a general license would quickly bring about 140mn barrels of oil to global markets, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said.
Iranian oil was “being hoarded by China on the cheap”, he said, and “temporarily unlocking this existing supply” would expand the volumes available to the international community.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury,” Bessent said in a statement on Friday evening.
The authorisation, which lasts until April 19, was limited to oil already in transit and does not allow new purchases or production, Bessent confirmed.
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