WorldIran's joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a "forceful response," again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.Tehran seemingly angered by U.S. statement about recent meetingThe Associated Press · Posted: Jul 02, 2026 7:59 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.A vessel in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran on Tuesday. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA/Reuters)Iran's joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a "forceful response," again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies. The strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has emerged as one of the top issues in negotiations to reach a permanent end to the Iran war. The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both U.S. and Iranian diplomats met with mediators on Wednesday in Qatar. It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the threat from Iran. However, the U.S. military's Central Command had put out a statement about having a meeting with officials from Mideast nations in Bahrain that said "leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz."That appears to have been the phrase to anger Iran, which is preparing for the funeral that begins this weekend for the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the war's first moments in February. "Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels," the Iranian statement said.WATCH | Trump's repeated threat to wipe out Iran:Trump's death spiral of threatening Iran | About ThatJune 29|Duration 2:57U.S. President Donald Trump has once again threatened to wipe out Iran, saying 'the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist' if Iran continues to violate the ceasefire agreement. Andrew Chang breaks down the cycle of the two countries' recent attacks, retaliations and perceived provocations to try to understand how they keep vacillating between conflict and dealmaking.