Iran said it will designate a new restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz as it trades airstrikes with the United States. Iran's top security official claimed the strait is already fully closed, while Washington signaled it has no intention of easing its naval blockade of the country. Vessel transits through the strait have fallen to their lowest level since May as the war stretches past six months, but U.S. President Donald Trump said oil flows have recovered to earlier levels.
Mohsen Rezaei, Iran's top security official, told Press TV on the 6th that Tehran will soon declare a new restricted zone outside the Strait of Hormuz. The zone is expected to extend from the U.S. Navy's blockade line into part of the Persian Gulf. "The Strait of Hormuz is currently completely closed," he said, adding that a map of vessel passage through the strait agreed with Oman would be signed and released within days.
The same day, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled that Washington has no plans to scale back the Navy's presence. Speaking on CNN, he said the United States would keep dealing with Iran until it changes its position or its government changes. He indicated the United States plans to maintain the naval blockade aimed at cutting off Iranian oil exports while ensuring safe passage for other commercial vessels through the strait.
The number of ships passing through the strait fell to its lowest level since May after U.S. and Iranian attacks on tankers over the weekend. Data from Kpler showed traffic through the waterway linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman was very light, with only two cargo ships passing on the 5th and six on the 6th, when airstrikes were underway. An average of 10 cargo ships a day transited the waterway over the past 10 days, but very large crude carriers have stopped moving through since the 2nd.
Trump, by contrast, posted graphics on Truth Social the same day highlighting a drop in Iranian oil exports and a recovery in oil flows through the strait. Alongside a chart showing exports approaching zero, he wrote that Iranian oil exports were plunging, and in a separate post said crude output through Hormuz had returned, comparing prewar production of about 20 million barrels a day with current output of about 18 million barrels a day.
Brent crude has risen nearly 60% since the start of the year as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated. OPEC+, the alliance of major oil producers, nevertheless decided to leave production quotas unchanged. The group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, held its monthly video conference the same day and said it would freeze output targets for October. The decision was seen as following the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' road map to keep targets frozen through the end of the year.
