The United Kingdom’s commercial maritime watchdog warned on Thursday, July 9, of potential “deliberate hostile acts” targeting vessels transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced that, given the current regional conditions, the occurrence of a “deliberate hostile act” in the Strait of Hormuz remains highly probable. Under normal circumstances, approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through this vital chokepoint.
The agency noted that while commercial shipping traffic continues through the waterway, transit volumes have decreased. Vessels are currently operating along only two distinct pathways: “a southern route near the coast of Oman and a northern route along the coast of Iran.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been blamed for five separate attacks on vessels transiting the Omani maritime route, a path explicitly recommended by the U.S. military. However, the Islamic Republic has not officially claimed responsibility for these actions.
Tehran has consistently sought to assert greater control over the Strait of Hormuz, demanding that international vessels use government-sanctioned shipping lanes that run closer to the Iranian coastline in the Persian Gulf.
