Iran has warned ships not to use illegal routes in the Strait of Hormuz US-Israel War on Iran

The military order comes a day after Qatari mediators hailed ‘good progress’ in US-Iranian talks.

Iran’s military order has threatened ships that try to cross the Strait of Hormuz using unauthorized channels with a “strong response,” putting new doubts on the flow of trade in the world’s most sensitive energy channel.

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central headquarters issued the threat on Thursday, a day after Qatari mediators hailed talks between the US and Iranian officials as “progressive” towards a peace deal.

“Failure to follow and deviate from the designated route or ignore the navigational channels of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with a quick and strong response from the navy, endangering the safety of the offending ships,” the military commander said in a statement quoted by the country’s news agency Tasnimm.

Although Tehran did not say what prompted the warning, it came after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday said it had led security talks in Bahrain where regional leaders expressed their commitment to “free trade” in the crisis.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi criticized CENTCOM’s statement on Thursday, saying the meeting “cannot establish stability and security in the Persian Gulf”.

“The security of the region will be determined by the end of the intervention and the withdrawal of the US from the region, respect for the sovereignty of nations, and the acceptance of new political policies – not under the umbrella of the American military,” said Gharibabadi in a post on X.

The Strait of Hormuz, which accounted for one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas trade before the US-Israel conflict began at the end of February, has become a key point for Washington and Tehran’s talks aimed at turning their fragile standoff into a lasting peace.

Although Iran agreed to make “great efforts” to improve the safe passage of ships in the river in a memorandum of understanding signed with the US on June 17, Tehran has repeatedly threatened to attack ships that do not use its preferred route near the Iranian coast.

At least 49 attacks on commercial ships have been recorded in the strait since the beginning of the war on February 28, according to MarineTraffic.

Most of the incidents, including drone attacks on a Singapore-flagged cruise ship and a Panamanian-flagged cruise ship on Thursday and Saturday, respectively, have been blamed on Tehran.

While traffic through the waterway has increased since US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the agreement on June 17, they are close to passing the nearly 130 daily crossings that occurred before the conflict.

At least 45 ships crossed on Wednesday, up from 34 on Tuesday, according to MarineTraffic data.

After dropping to pre-military levels on Thursday on reports of positive talks in Doha, oil prices remained steady as markets opened in Asia on Friday.

Brent futures for August delivery were at $72.07 per barrel as of 02:30 GMT, having fallen below $71 for the first time since the end of the war.