Iran says it will allow Japanese ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz

Iran says Japanese ships will be allowed to transit the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest sign that Tehran has started pursuing a selective blockade of the strategic waterway.

“We have not closed the strait. In our opinion, the strait is open. It is closed only to ships belonging to our enemies, countries that attack us. For other countries, ships can pass through the strait ,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Japan’s Kyodo News late on Friday.

“We are talking to them to find a way to pass safely. We are ready to provide them with safe passage. All they need to do is contact us to discuss how this route will be,” Araghchi said, according to an English transcript of the interview shared on his Telegram account.

Japan sources more than 90 percent of its crude oil imports from the Middle East and is heavily dependent on exports transiting the strait, but the waterway has been de facto closed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned in the early days of the war that its forces would set “ablaze” any ships trying to transit the waterway, bringing marine traffic to a near standstill.

Over the past week, however, Iran has toned down the rhetoric to say the strait is only closed to Tehran’s enemies.

Japan may soon join the small cohort of countries – mainly China, India, and Pakistan – whose vessels have been allowed to transit the waterway in recent days, with approval from Iranian authorities.

Lloyd’s List, a shipping and maritime information service, separately reported that 10 ships have transited the strait by sailing close to Iran’s coastline – a route that is emerging as a “safe corridor” for shipping.

The latest ship, a Greek bulk carrier, transited on Friday by passing close to Iran’s Larak island , Lloyd’s said, while broadcasting the message “Cargo Food for Iran”.

While ships have been transiting on a case-by-case basis, Lloyd’s List reported that the IRGC is developing a more coordinated vetting and registration system.

As the war on Iran hits three weeks, a handful of countries – among them US allies – have already started lobbying Tehran to reopen the strait or allow their ships safe passage.

Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom earlier this week issued a joint statement expressing their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait”.

Iraq, Malaysia, China, India and Pakistan have all reportedly held direct talks with Tehran to discuss the matter, according to Lloyd’s.

Araghchi’s remarks to Kyodo follow a call with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday, during which Tokyo expressed concern about the large number of Japanese vessels currently stranded in the Gulf, according to a Japanese readout of the call.