The IRGC on Sunday said its strategy was to maintain the closure “until the enemy accepts all our conditions… the strait is now actually a theatre of war for us and not just a waterway”.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who had also said the reopening of Hormuz was subject to conditions, denied on Sunday that Iran was negotiating with the US, saying it was were merely “exchanging messages” via intermediaries.
Traffic through Hormuz has dropped significantly amid the ongoing attacks.
At the weekend the United Arab Emirates accused Iran of striking a tanker belonging to its national oil company as it transited the strait.
Oman’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned “repeated attacks on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz”, without naming Iran.
It also said “ongoing negotiations regarding navigation arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz are proceeding”, and warned against any actions that might jeopardise the progress.
The June Iran-US deal had said Tehran and Muscat would hash out future arrangements for the strait in discussion with other Gulf countries and “in line with the applicable international law”, which generally forbids tolling in such waterways.
Araghchi had said that discussions with Oman over management of the strait were “approaching the final stages”.
As Iran throttles traffic in Hormuz, its Houthi allies in Yemen have declared a parallel maritime blockade on Saudi ports in the Red Sea, the oil-exporting giant’s only other maritime route.
The Houthis announced on Sunday that they had struck a Saudi oil facility on the country’s Red Sea coast, after the Gulf kingdom said it had extinguished a fire at the site.
Saudi Arabia has long propped up Yemen’s internationally recognised government in its war against the Houthis, which was paused by a UN-backed 2022 accord that has appeared to break down since the rebels declared their blockade last month.
– AFP