Iran’s new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz has said its claimed area of control extends to waters south of the United Arab Emirates’ port of Fujairah, which hosts oil infrastructure designed to bypass the strategic waterway.
Traffic through Hormuz — a vital global shipping conduit — has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of war with Israel and the United States on February 28.
Iran, which has effectively closed the strait since the war and is seeking to charge ships for passage, has insisted that vessels transiting the waterway must obtain permission from the Iranian armed forces.
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In a post on X on Wednesday, accompanied by a map, the ‘Persian Gulf Strait Authority’ said it had outlined “the regulatory jurisdiction for the management” of the strait.
It said this covered the area between the line extending from “Kuh-e Mubarak in Iran to the south of Fujairah in the UAE… to the line connecting the tip of Qeshm island in Iran to Umm Al-Quwain in the UAE”.
It added that “transit through this area for the purpose of passing through the Hormuz Strait requires coordination with, and authorisation from, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority”.
Relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates have been severely strained since the war, after Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Gulf countries hosting US assets in response to American-Israeli attacks.
Iran last week accused the UAE of playing an active role in the war — a claim Abu Dhabi has denied.
