An adviser to Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander told Fars News Agency that routes Tehran considers illegal through the Strait of Hormuz would soon close, while U.S. Central Command disputed a broader Iranian claim that the waterway is shut.
The competing statements come as oil shipments through the region have recovered from earlier disruptions, even though attacks on tankers and shipping constraints continue.
What Iran says it will close
Mohammadreza Naqdi told the semi-official Fars News Agency that "a few routes" near Oman's coast would soon be closed, Reuters reported. Naqdi alleged that the routes were created by blasting rocky passages and were being used by small boats to smuggle oil and transfer it to tankers.
Naqdi also made a broader assertion, saying the strait was closed and Iran's armed forces had full control of it. He said that would continue until Iran's demands were met.
The distinction matters: the announced action concerns routes Iran labels illegal along Oman's side of the strait, while the claim that the entire waterway is closed remains disputed.
What the traffic data shows
U.S. Central Command called the wider closure claim false and said commercial and energy traffic was moving through the strait. It also asserted that the United States and regional partners control the waterway.
Shipping data cited by Reuters showed substantial flows continued. A seven-day moving average of regional crude exports reached 18.3 million barrels a day on September 30, according to provisional Kpler data. Volumes exceeded prewar levels on 14 days in September.
That regional figure was not limited to the Strait of Hormuz. It also included oil shipped through the Red Sea, from terminals and through ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.
Another Revolutionary Guards adviser, Majid Mirahmadi, offered a much lower measure of activity, claiming that about 10 ships per day were transiting the strait compared with 125 before the war. Reuters reported that Iranian attacks on tankers and logistical constraints persisted despite the higher September oil flows, leaving questions about whether the rebound can last.
