Iran threatens maritime sanctions on vessels entering newly declared zone without authorization

Iran said Wednesday that enemy and commercial vessels entering a newly designated maritime zone without Tehran’s authorization would face sanctions, according to Iranian media reports.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohibi said any enemy vessel or commercial ship entering the area without coordination with Iranian authorities would be placed on a sanctions list, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

He said the measure would mean Iran would halt the provision of maritime, insurance and support services to those vessels, and that they would remain barred from receiving the services even if they later transit the Strait of Hormuz.

The remarks follow an announcement by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei that Tehran would declare a new restricted zone outside the strait.

Rezaei said the zone would begin from what Tehran describes as the US Navy’s “blockade line” and extend into parts of the Arabian Gulf.

Any vessel entering the new zone without Iranian permission with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be added to Iran’s sanctions list, he said.

In separate remarks by Iran’s Student News Network, Mohibi said that although the fighting with the world’s “greatest apparent powers” had ended at certain stages, “the nature of the war continues.”

He claimed that the war had, for the first time, inflicted “strategic damage” directly on the US and affected its security and economic calculations.

Mohibi said if the enemy wanted the situation to end, it must completely halt the war and refrain from renewed threats.

He also listed several other demands, including the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon, an end to the blockade of Yemen, the release of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and an end to interference in Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

“We have reached a point where if the enemy hits two or three of our targets, we respond firmly against 20 targets,” said Mohibi.

The remarks come amid continuing US-Iran hostilities and heightened maritime tensions in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier Wednesday, the IRGC said its naval forces targeted two US vessels and eight oil tankers in response to American attacks on five Iranian oil tankers.

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a key flashpoint in the conflict, with Tehran maintaining restrictions on maritime traffic and demanding that vessels coordinate their passage with Iranian authorities.