DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Liberian-flagged oil tanker successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, taking a newly established route along Oman’s coastline even as Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued stern warnings against unauthorized ship traffic in the waterway.
The vessel, known as the Stoic Warrior, completed its transit at a time of growing friction between Iran and the United States over the specifics of a recent interim agreement aimed at permanently resolving the Iran conflict. The two nations are increasingly at odds over issues ranging from how commercial ships pass through the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf to what happens to Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Last week, the U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that gave both sides 60 days to work out the remaining details. While private negotiations continue, leaders from both countries have also been making public statements about the deal — a dynamic that risks destabilizing the fragile regional ceasefire.
Adding to the uncertainty is renewed fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. On Wednesday, Israel carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon that killed two people, according to the country’s state-run news agency. It marked Israel’s first airstrike on Lebanon since the most recent ceasefire went into effect on Saturday.
The Stoic Warrior departed early Thursday morning, sailing close to the shores of the United Arab Emirates before continuing along the Omani coastline. It then rounded Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, following a route developed by Oman in partnership with the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency responsible for overseeing global shipping.
That route runs south of the Traffic Separation Scheme — the central strait corridor that ships have used for decades to transport roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas. That traditional passage has been effectively shut down after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reported mining the area during the war that began on February 28, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. At least one mine has reportedly been spotted in the water.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard naval forces responded angrily to the Oman-IMO route on Thursday, with a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
