“As previously announced, the designated shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz is the only authorized route,” the IRIB news agency reported on Monday, citing an informed source.
Trying to cross the waterway through any other route poses danger to trespassing vessels, it added.
The source cited Iranian servicemen’s confrontation against six trespassing vessels earlier in the day as proof of the Islamic Republic’s continued control over the chokepoint.
"The vessels attempted to transit through the illegal and unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz in violation of [standing] regulations after switching off their navigation and positioning systems, at the instigation of the child-killing and terrorist US military,” it noted. “One of the vessels faced an incident, while the remaining ships were firmly managed by Iran and redirected back into the Persian Gulf.”
Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding last month to end the cycle arising from the latest bout of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic, which had begun on February 28.
Under the understanding, Iran agreed to allow fee-free maritime transit through the strait for a period of 60 days.
In compliance with the MoU, the Islamic Republic devised a special maritime route for vessels to cross the chokepoint, while warning against transit through illegal routes.
The US has, however, been trying to escort transit through the strait along an illegal passageway, prompting the Islamic Republic to shut the corridor until Washington ended its interference in regional maritime movement.