Iran warns on new Hormuz route as tanker Stoic Warrior sails through

Dubai,UPDATED: Jun 25, 2026 12:20 IST

A Liberian oil tanker sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday despite threats to shipping from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, using a new route close to Oman's coast promoted by a UN maritime agency. The transit of the Stoic Warrior came as tensions rose between Iran and the United States over the terms of their interim accord aimed at permanently ending the Iran war.

The two countries are increasingly at odds over issues ranging from safe passage for ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, even after signing the deal last week. Under the memorandum of understanding, the US and Iran have a 60-day period to work out these and other details in private talks, while leaders on both sides continue to negotiate in public, raising the risk of upsetting the fragile ceasefire in the region.

The Stoic Warrior set off early on Thursday and sailed along the coast of the United Arab Emirates and then Oman. It then moved around Oman's Musandam Peninsula fairly close to shore, following a route laid out by Oman with the Maritime Organisation, the UN agency that oversees shipping. North of this lies the Traffic Separation Scheme, the central route through the strait that ships had used freely for decades and which carries about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas.

That route was shut after a report that at least one mine had been seen in the water, after the Guard said it had mined the passage during the war that began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Reacting to the Oman-IMO route, the naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard issued a warning on Thursday, carried by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. "A few hours ago, without notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, some authorities announced a new route for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is unacceptable and completely dangerous," the Guard said.

It added, "It is hereby notified to all that the only authorised route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran." The force also said, "Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited," and added, "Violators will be dealt with," without giving details. There were no immediate reports of any incident as the Stoic Warrior passed through, and ship-tracking data showed several vessels behind it.

Senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash also warned Iran on Thursday against trying to block the strait or impose fees on ships using it. "New geopolitical facts cannot be imposed on the Arab Gulf states as a result of a treacherous aggression against them," Gargash wrote on X. "It sows new seeds of discord and conflict for the future. And this is precisely what applies to the Strait of Hormuz."

At the same time, Lebanon remained a flashpoint. On Wednesday, Israel carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon that killed two people, the country's state-run news agency said, in the first such strike since the latest ceasefire took effect on Saturday. On Thursday, Israel's military said a reservist soldier was killed and another injured in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops hold swathes of territory. At least 37 soldiers and one civilian defence contractor have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel during the fighting, while two civilians in northern Israel have also been killed.

Lebanon's toll has been far higher, with more than 4,000 people killed in Israeli strikes since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began in March, two days after the Iran war started and after the Lebanese militant group fired at Israel. Iran has said the fighting in Lebanon must stop and that Israel must give up the land it occupies there for a permanent deal with the US on the wider Middle East war. Israel says it must retain freedom to respond to Hezbollah attacks as US pressure on its campaign increases. Overall, the tanker's passage, Iran's warning and the renewed tensions in Lebanon underlined how unsettled the region remains even after the interim US-Iran agreement.

With PTI Inputs

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