Iran's IRGC Escorts 25 Ships Through Hormuz

(MENAFN) Iran's paramilitary naval force said Saturday it had shepherded dozens of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz over the preceding 24 hours, asserting its own parallel authority over the waterway even as a US blockade continues to choke traffic to and from Iranian ports.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy said the vessels — spanning oil tankers, container ships, and other commercial craft — made the transit "after obtaining permission with the coordination and security of the IRGC Navy," according to a statement carried by a state-run broadcaster.

The announcement underscores the competing claims of control playing out across one of the planet's most strategically vital chokepoints. Prior to the conflict, the strait served as the conduit for nearly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies — a figure that has made every disruption to its operations a source of acute anxiety for global energy markets.

Tensions across the region have remained volatile since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in late February, killing the country's supreme leader. Tehran responded with retaliatory attacks on Israel and US Gulf allies before closing the strait entirely.

A Pakistani-brokered ceasefire halted the fighting on April 8, though subsequent negotiations in Islamabad failed to yield a durable settlement. President Donald Trump subsequently extended the truce indefinitely while preserving the naval blockade targeting vessels bound to or from Iranian ports.

Diplomatic momentum has nonetheless been building. Pakistan's army chief is currently in Tehran in an active push to prevent a return to hostilities and secure a framework agreement between Washington and Tehran.

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