Iran threatens to choke off alternative routes through Hormuz

 

Iran threatens to choke off alternative routes through Hormuz

 

Despite growing oil flows in September, Iranian attacks on tankers and logistical constraints have persisted.

 

Thursday 08/10/2026

https://middle-east-online.com/en/iran-threatens-choke-alternative-routes-through-hormuz

 

Iran’s new threat puts fragile oil recovery at riskIran’s new threat puts fragile oil recovery at risk

 

DUBAI – Transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz deemed illegal by Iran will soon be closed, an adviser to the Revolutionary Guards’ Commander told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Wednesday, referring to the southern pathway hugging Oman’s coast.

 

Mohammadreza Naqdi said these “few routes” had been created by blasting and damaging some of the rocky passages in the strategic waterway and were used by “small boats smuggling oil and transferring it to tankers,” challenging the narrative that Gulf oil exports are regaining pre-war levels.

 

“The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full control over it. This situation will continue until Iran’s legitimate demands are met,”‌ he added.

 

A seven-day moving average for crude exports from the region was 18.3 million barrels per day on September 30, provisional data from Kpler showed, with volumes topping pre-war levels on 14 days in September.

 

That included Gulf oil sent via Hormuz, the Red Sea, and from terminals and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.

 

The IRGC has consistently denied that seaborne crude flows in the strait are rebounding thanks to US Navy help, with another IRGC adviser Majid Mirahmadi saying on Thursday that a daily average of 10 ships transit the waterway against an average of 125 before the war which started on February 28, when the US and Israel killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a Tehran airstrike.

 

Despite growing oil flows in September, Iranian attacks on tankers and logistical constraints have persisted and call into question whether higher flows can be sustained durably.

 

Attacks on tankers hit highest of any week since start of war

 

Attacks on tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz hit their highest last week of any week since the Iran war began, according to maritime security sources tracking incidents, amid a bigger export push by Gulf producers.

 

Attacks, attempted attacks and harassment activity including drone overflights, surveillance and hailing using VHF radio by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have persisted in the strait, the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said in a note on Sunday.

 

“These actions continue to demonstrate Iran’s intent to assert presence along key transit lanes and maintain pressure on transiting vessels,” the JMIC said.

 

In the week of September 28-October 5, there had been at least 12 attacks on oil, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas tankers around the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from three maritime security sources who analysed incidents based on information received from the area.

 

That was the highest number of attacks in a single week since the US war with Iran began on February 28, the sources said.

 

Separate data collated by the UN’s shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), showed nine incidents involving vessels in the same week.

 

The UN body tends to take longer to verify and officially record incidents, maritime sources say.

 

The closest week in terms of comparable incidents was the week of July 13 when there were eight incidents, separate IMO data showed.

 

Gulf oil exporters topped pre-war levels for about half of September, shipping data showed on Monday, though attacks on tankers and logistical constraints cloud the outlook for sustained higher flows.

 

India’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that 12 crew members were injured after an unknown projectile struck Panama-flagged oil tanker On Peace while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz.