Iran will declare a new “restricted” maritime zone outside the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, the country’s top security official said on Sunday, warning that any vessel entering the area would be placed on a sanctions list, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said in a televised interview that the new zone would begin from the US Navy’s blockade line and cover parts of the Gulf, according to Iranian state-run broadcaster Press TV.
“Any vessel that enters this new zone will be placed on the sanctions list,” he said.
Rezaei also said Iran and Oman would sign an agreement in the coming days establishing a new corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, with its entry and exit points controlled by Iran.
He claimed the Strait of Hormuz was now “completely closed and under the control of the armed forces”, while dismissing US President Donald Trump’s claim that the strategic waterway remained open as a “lie”.
Before Iran closed the strait, more than 100 vessels carrying over 100 million tonnes of cargo passed through the waterway every day, Rezaei said.
He claimed only seven or eight vessels carrying essential goods for Iran were now using the route.
“The Americans are trying to smuggle five or six vessels through it at a high cost, but these vessels are usually attacked,” he said, without providing further details.
Rezaei said Iran had decided not to sink the vessels because they were carrying oil and doing so could harm the region’s environment.
He also claimed that Iran had successfully tested a new anti-ship missile in the airspace above a US Navy vessel 48 hours earlier.
“For the first time, we tested our anti-ship missile above an American warship.
“This special missile created a hellish situation for the Americans and they fled,” he said, without identifying the vessel or providing details on where the test took place.
Separately, Rezaei rejected claims that US economic sanctions had caused widespread starvation in Iran.
“The claim that US economic sanctions have caused mass starvation in Iran is a huge lie,” he said.
He added that the Iranian government had been preparing for such circumstances for a long time and had sufficient stocks of food and essential goods.
Regional tensions have escalated since US and Israeli attacks on Iran began on February 28, with Tehran responding with missile and drone strikes against Israel and US interests across the region.
