A European Union communique said on Sunday that vessels have been receiving VHF transmission from Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying "no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz".
The strait is the world's most vital oil export route, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran had not formally confirmed any such order. Tehran has for years threatened to block the narrow waterway in retaliation for any attack on the Islamic Republic.
The latest Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data, via Bloomberg, shows that tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been paralyzed, with only a few tankers still transiting the critical maritime energy chokepoint.
Though the USA claims to have disabled more than half the Iranian Navy The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened today to set fire to any ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media.
Around 20 per cent of the world’s oil travels through the narrow shipping lane, bordered by Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, each day and around 30,000 boats pass through it each year.
Prior to the IRGC’s announcement, tankers were still moving through the Strait but in much smaller numbers, with 150 vessels anchored just outside its mouth.
Three vessels were hit off the coast of Oman, although the circumstances remained unclear. However maritime sources confirm the oil tanker Athen Nova stopped in the Strait of Hormuz after being reportedly struck by two drones launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Swiss bank UBS advised clients that "Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and they will set any ship on fire that tries to pass through, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. WTI crude oil is now up more than 7% following the headlines."
Bloomberg Headlined:
IRGC ADVISER SAYS WON'T LET OIL LEAVE REGION: IRAN STATE TV
However, the loss of IRGC naval power should not lead investors to discount the regime's asymmetric capabilities, such as using missiles and drones to target tankers in the narrow waterway.
Oil prices had already surged before the closure of the Strait, with Brent crude oil jumping 13 per cent to around $82 (£61) a barrel when markets opened on Sunday night. The increase took prices to a seven-month high. Coming so soon after Trump's 'regime alteration act in Venezuela disrupted tanker traffic from that oil exporting nation, this latest development is likely to cause a global crisis.
Iran has continued striking targets across the Gulf in response to a military campaign by the US and Israel, which killed Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, on Saturday. Having already struck well defended US Naval and air bases in the gulf region, the Iranians have shown through the effectiveness of their lo tech drones that loss of marine power will not prevent them closing the strait.
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