Iran Says Shipping in Strait of Hormuz Not Guaranteed Without Coordination

JAKARTA - Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Friday that safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz could not be guaranteed through ambiguous arrangements or parallel routes designed without taking into account Tehran's position as a coastal state.

In a post on the X social media platform, Gharibabadi stressed that any credible framework for maritime traffic in the strategic waterway must be based on coordination with Tehran and in line with Article 5 of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Iran and the United States.

"Safe shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed through ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes, or decision-making outside of Iran's consideration as a coastal state," he wrote.

He warned that if the provisions were not met, it would result in the suspension of the parallel route that had been established.

Previously, the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement said that the Strait of Hormuz was in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. The ministry added that the management of navigation on the route would be governed by Article 5 of the memorandum of understanding.

The statement was issued in response to a joint communique with the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and stressed the importance of free, unconditional, and unrestricted freedom of navigation in the strategic waterway.

The joint statement of the US-GCC also rejected the imposition of tariffs, fees, or any efforts to enforce control over the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamabad memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran officially came into force on June 18 after the presidents of the two countries signed it electronically.