Iran is attempting to reassert control over the Persian Gulf after U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers this weekend — and the regime’s latest threat may be nothing more than desperation.
Senior Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei claimed Sunday that Tehran will soon announce a new “restricted area” in the Persian Gulf. Ships would need permission from Iran to pass through.
“This zone will start from the U.S. Navy’s blockade line and include areas of the Persian Gulf. Any ship entering this new zone will be placed on the sanctions list.”
The announcement comes as Iran scrambles to dispute the growing reality: American forces now control the Strait of Hormuz more than Tehran does.
The U.S. military revealed in August that most of Iran’s sea mines in the strait had been removed. Millions of barrels of oil now move through under U.S. Navy protection. Traffic levels have returned to half — or even two-thirds — of prewar levels.
Iran’s regime isn’t handling the loss well.
Rezaei also insisted Iran is working on an agreement with Oman to control the strait and extract fees for safe passage from civilian ships. Oman appears far less enthusiastic about the idea, though officials have acknowledged meetings with Iranian representatives.
“The maps of a new international corridor which lies in Iranian and Omani waters and in which Iran will have management have been agreed and should be signed in the coming days,” Rezaei said.
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf backed up the threat with bluster about Western energy infrastructure vulnerability.
“It’s simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure,” Qalibaf said.
But it was three of Iran’s own tankers that were disabled or destroyed by U.S. strikes Saturday — after Iran attempted to attack American warships with ballistic missiles.
The exchange made shipping companies nervous, reducing transits to about ten per day.
Qalibaf nevertheless insisted the United States must realize “the rules of the game have changed before it is too late.”
“From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response,” he said.
Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh rejected reports that the regime is beginning to buckle under pressure from the U.S. blockade and enhanced sanctions.
“They speak of economic pressure and isolation, of breaking off financial ties and they think that by pressuring the economy of a country they can change the decisions of its people,” he said.
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said in a state television interview Sunday that Iran’s primary oil terminal on Kharg Island has been “hit around 550 times” since hostilities began with the United States, but is still functioning.
Middle Eastern Studies chair Stephen Zunes of the University of San Francisco told Al Jazeera News on Monday that Iran can still sporadically threaten ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz — but would struggle to enforce an expanded “restricted zone” in the Persian Gulf.
“It’s hard to see how they will really be able to enforce it. Iranian ships and planes trying to enforce that would be very vulnerable to U.S. attack,” he said.
Zunes speculated that Iranian boasts might be a ploy to provoke the U.S. into launching more strikes, potentially prompting the Iranian people to “rally around the flag” instead of rising up against the weakened regime.
The Iranians might also be trying to intimidate Oman into signing Tehran’s scheme to control the strait — or create more leverage for resumed negotiations with the United States.
