A foreign container ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after entering shallow waters outside the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities, Iran's state media reported.
Tehran used the incident to reiterate a warning from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that vessels transiting the strait should use only the corridor south of Iran's Larak Island, which Iran insists is the sole approved entry and exit route through the waterway. The grounding is the latest in a string of maritime incidents to hit the strait since Iran began restricting and, at various points, closing the passage following the outbreak of its war with the United States and Israel in late February.
The incident comes as shipping companies have increasingly steered vessels toward routes closer to the Omani coastline to avoid Iranian-controlled waters, a shift that has drawn repeated warnings from Tehran and raised concerns in the shipping industry about the risk of running aground on rocks and shoals along the narrower southern passage. Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the body Tehran set up to manage transit requests, has said any consequences from ships using unauthorized routes are the responsibility of the vessel's owner, operator and commander.
The grounding also comes as the Strait of Hormuz remains in a state of contested status. Iran's military command declared the strait closed to all traffic over the weekend, citing what it called American violations of the ceasefire and continued Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, even as Iran's own foreign ministry said shipping was operating normally. US and Iranian officials are set to hold indirect technical talks Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators, aimed at building on progress toward a permanent end to the war and stabilizing the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17.
