'Baseless': Iran Denies Blocking Strait Of Hormuz, Accuses US Of Endangering Maritime Security

Last Updated:March 06, 2026, 01:52 IST

This came after Iran's IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that they have taken control of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian mission to the United Nations has refuted such reports as “baseless and absurd", and accused the US of endangering maritime security.

“The claim that Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz is baseless and absurd. Iran remains committed to international law and freedom of navigation. In reality, it is the US that has endangered maritime security.

The Iranian mission also condemned a US strike on an Iranian frigate off Sri Lanka, which killed 80 people. It said the US submarine struck the Iranian frigate Dena “without warning" after it was returning from India as a naval guest with 130 sailors aboard.

“This reckless attack violates the fundamental principles of international law and freedom of navigation," it said.

The remarks came after the IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed over the weekend after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ships have largely stopped moving through the Strait amid Iranian missile attacks on regional bases.

This move choked off vital Middle East oil and gas flows and caused a steep spike in oil prices. The IRGC warned that the strait is closed to vessels from the United States, Israel, Europe and their Western allies. Analysts warn that such disruption would result in rising global energy costs and a sharp escalation of US gasoline prices.

Why Is Strait Of Hormuz Important?

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes. Tankers transiting the strait, bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Iran. Most of that oil goes to Asia.

ALSO READ: USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier Hit By Iranian Missiles Near Strait Of Hormuz, Tehran Says

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar- among the world’s largest oil exporters- can only move their crude to international markets by passing through it. There is no alternative maritime route. Tehran framed the closure as consistent with international law, stating that Iran reserves the right to regulate passage through the strait during wartime.

A senior official of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the country would use force to block traffic through the strait. “The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze," Brigadier General Sardar Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he ordered the US development finance arm to provide political risk insurance for tankers carrying oil and other goods through the Gulf “at a very reasonable price."

He also said the US Navy would escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, as concerns mount over energy supply disruptions. “No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

News world 'Baseless': Iran Denies Blocking Strait Of Hormuz, Accuses US Of Endangering Maritime Security

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