IRGC says Iran in ‘complete control’ of Strait of Hormuz amid Trump threats

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said it maintains full control of the Strait of Hormuz, where United States President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to deploy the navy to escort tankers.

“Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic’s Navy,” IRGC Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said on Wednesday in a statement carried by Iran’s Fars news agency.

About a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped through the all-important narrow passage of water.

However, a Reuters news agency report said in a rare voyage, an oil tanker sailed through the Strait of Hormuz en route to a United Arab Emirates port to load crude.

The tanker, Pola, switched off its AIS tracker late on Monday, when it approached the strait, and the vessel reappeared on Tuesday off Abu Dhabi, according to sources and ship-tracking data, Reuters added.

The US-Israeli war on Iran is disrupting the global supply chain, with shipping closed in the vital Strait of Hormuz and planes carrying air cargo grounded by the closure of airspace in the Middle East.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the IRGC stated it was “impossible for any ships to pass through” and that more than 10 oil tankers were targeted.

Clarksons Research, which tracks shipping data, estimates that about 3,200 ships, or about 4 percent of global ship tonnage, are idle in the Gulf, although that includes about 1,230 that likely operate only within the Gulf, The Associated Press news agency reported.

Meanwhile, about 500 ships, or 1 percent of global tonnage, are currently “waiting” outside the Gulf in ports off the coast of the UAE and Oman, according to the firm.

Amid Iran’s stranglehold on tanker movement through the strait, Brent crude prices rose to more than $82 a barrel, up more than 13 percent since the start of the conflict and the highest since July 2024.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday that the US Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible”.

“No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD,” he added. “The United States’ ECONOMIC and MILITARY MIGHT is the GREATEST ON EARTH — More actions to come,” he said.

Pakistan seeks alternatives

Islamabad has asked Saudi Arabia to route oil supplies through the Red Sea port of Yanbu after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted shipping, the Ministry of Energy of Pakistan said in a press release on Wednesday.

“Saudi Arabian sources had assured security of supplies through the Port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, which can help meet energy requirements,” read the release, adding that one vessel has been arranged to sail to Yanbu to lift crude for Pakistan.

Riyadh reaffirmed it would support Pakistan in meeting its emergency energy needs, it added.

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said most of Pakistan’s energy imports transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and the government is monitoring the situation closely to ensure the continuity of supplies.