Iran to declare ‘prohibited zone’ near Strait of Hormuz in coming days, warns ships entering will face sanctions

Iran's top security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, has announced that his country will establish a "prohibited zone" near the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the coming days. According to Rezaei, the zone will start from the US Navy's blockade line and include areas of the Persian Gulf. Any ship entering this new zone will be placed on Iran's sanctions list.

The announcement comes after a sharp exchange of attacks between the US and Iran, with Washington hitting Iranian oil tankers and Tehran striking back at US warships in the Gulf. According to data from analytics firm Kpler, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dipped to its lowest since May, with an average of 10 commodity ships transiting the strait per day over the past 10 days.

Rezaei also mentioned that Iran has worked out shipping-route maps with Oman for the Strait of Hormuz, which are expected to be signed soon. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical waterway for oil exports, and tensions in the region have been escalating in recent days, with both sides engaging in retaliatory strikes.

Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail, The Times of Israel, Live Mint, The Indian Express, Free Malaysia Today — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.