Iran Plots New 'Exclusion Zone' Near Strait of Hormuz

The new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Sunday said Tehran plans to announce an "exclusion zone" outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway. Mohsen Rezaei's comments to Iran's state broadcaster came with few details, reports the AP, a day after the US struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Tehran launching ballistic missiles at US warships, launches that experts called a dangerous escalation. The new zone should be announced in the coming days and "will begin from the line of the US naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf," Rezaei said. "Any ship that enters this area with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz ... will be placed on our sanctions list."

It is not clear where Iran defines the location of the weekslong US blockade, which is aimed at Iranian ports and keeping Tehran from exporting its oil. The US military has said over 20 warships are supporting the blockade, which as of Sunday had redirected 92 commercial ships and disabled three. The US has been introducing new measures to increase the economic pain on Iran after negotiations collapsed and no end to the intermittent fighting appears in sight. Meanwhile, Iran continues to attack some ships trying to transit the strait, with Rezaei saying, "We will only commit to the Strait of Hormuz being open when they (the Americans) stop the sabotage, threats, and attacks on Iran," per Reuters. Iran earlier Sunday said it struck an unmanned US vessel trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that the US military dismissed as a "total lie."

The Trump administration appears to have adopted a dual-pronged approach to the conflict, responding militarily to attacks on the strait while going after foreign financial institutions that handle Iran's money. But Tehran's hard-line new leaders including Rezaei have signaled a willingness to dig in after weathering decades of sanctions. Iran has found ways over the years to circumvent sanctions, and now the US blockade of its ports, to get its oil to buyers to help ease growing economic pressures. Rezaei in his interview said that "every day we are selling one million, one and a half million (barrels), as if Iran's oil production and trade are continuing as usual."