Iran has blacklisted 45 tankers for allegedly violating its rules governing transit through the Strait of Hormuz and warned that action would be taken against vessels involved in cargo transfers with them.
According to a post on X by the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a newly established body responsible for managing the strategic waterway, the affected vessels could face fines, detention and cargo confiscation.
The authority said the blacklist included very large crude carriers, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carriers and clean-product vessels, among others.
The post did not specify which rules had been breached. However, Tehran had previously maintained that shipowners should obtain clearance before transiting the strait and pay for security and related services.
The development comes days after the United States warned Iran of what it described as “the toughest sanctions in history,” prompting Tehran to say that its response to any new U.S. threats would be “devastating.”
The United States has also imposed a naval blockade on Iran-related shipping, further heightening tensions in one of the world’s most important energy transit routes.
Before the conflict involving Iran disrupted tanker movements, the Gulf accounted for about 20 per cent of global daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
U.S.-coordinated efforts to move tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and transfer cargoes to waiting supertankers outside the waterway have helped restore part of the disrupted export volumes.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on X on Friday that the seven-day average volume of oil leaving the strait had risen to more than eight million barrels per day.
“Make no mistake, thanks to the U.S. Navy, oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz,” Wright wrote.
