The U.S. military will begin enforcing the naval blockade of Iran at 23:00 (Cyprus time) on July 14, the Joint Maritime Intelligence Center, which is part of the U.S. Navy, announced tonight.

According to the announcement, the blockade will apply to all ships, regardless of flag. It covers the entire Iranian coastline and includes, but is not limited to, Iranian ports and oil terminals.

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However, “neutral transit” through the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian destinations will not be impeded. Ships carrying humanitarian cargo will also be allowed to pass, provided they are inspected beforehand.

Only 14 ships, half of which were commercial vessels, passed through the Strait on Sunday, according to the shipping tracking company Kpler. This suggests that the Strait of Hormuz has not been completely closed, contrary to Iran’s announcements. However, this number is the lowest recorded since June 13, shortly before the “memorandum of understanding” between the U.S. and Iran was signed.

Half of these ships were flying the Iranian flag.

On Sunday evening, the U.S. announced that it had launched new strikes against Iran in response to the attacks on ships, which it attributes to Tehran. Iran had earlier announced that it was closing the Strait “until further notice” after targeting a ship that was following an “unauthorized course.”

According to Kpler, at least three ships carrying raw materials passed through on Monday.

Of the non-Iranian ships, only two passed through with their transponders activated: one was following the route designated by Iran, and the other was following the route used in peacetime, which is now considered dangerous, however, due to mines that may have been laid there.

Over the weekend, no ship followed the route passing off the coast of Oman with its transponder activated.

Source: CNA