DUBAI: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has deployed specialized operational forces along Iran’s Persian Gulf coastline to systematically track and identify commercial vessels opting for the Oman-side southern route through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Sources familiar with the development told Iran International that IRGC operatives are extensively gathering intelligence and seeking unauthorized access to shipping coordination matrices and transit timetables via local Omani connections. The specialized task force is heavily equipped with highly technical monitoring assets, including land-based observation networks, maritime interception hardware, and aerial reconnaissance systems. Their updated directive commands them to issue operational warnings to any foreign vessels attempting to cross the unsanctioned southern maritime corridor.
Tehran maintains that the only legally authorized channels within the Strait of Hormuz are those explicitly designated and validated by the Islamic Republic. The IRGC has strictly warned international merchant fleets against using the southern coastal corridor recommended by both the Sultanate of Oman and the International Maritime Organization. This deployment comes directly on the heels of a temporary, one-week de-escalation agreement reached between Washington and Tehran following multiple rounds of aggressive military exchanges in the region. While continuous diplomatic negotiations are anticipated to proceed in Doha under a newly drafted framework proposed by Oman, Tehran is simultaneously reinforcing its defensive identification protocols targeting non-compliant international shipping.
The current friction mirrors a recent kinetic incident on Thursday, June 25, when IRGC units targeted a Singapore-flagged cargo vessel operating near the Omani coastline, inflicting structural damage to the ship’s bridge. The attack prompted retaliatory airstrikes by United States warplanes on June 26 against Iranian missile depots, drone storage facilities, and coastal radar installations. Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is functionally fragmented into three competing channels: the Omani-adjacent southern route, the heavily mined and closed middle channel, and the Iranian-controlled northern corridor. Iranian officials have floated proposals to implement a mandatory transit service fee modeled after the Dardanelles system, an idea Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi has outright rejected in international briefings. With daily traffic lingering far below pre-war levels of 130 transits, the waterway remains a volatile flashpoint.
ലഘു വിവരണം
ഹോർമുസ് കടലിടുക്കിലെ ഒമാൻ തീരത്തോട് ചേർന്നുള്ള തെക്കൻ കപ്പൽ പാത നിരീക്ഷിക്കുന്നതിനായി ഇറാൻ്റെ ഇസ്ലാമിക് റെവല്യൂഷണറി ഗാർഡ് കോർപ്സ് (IRGC) പ്രത്യേക സൈന്യത്തെ വിന്യസിച്ചു. അത്യാധുനിക നിരീക്ഷണ സംവിധാനങ്ങളുള്ള ഈ സേന, ഒമാൻ പാതയിലൂടെ പോകുന്ന കപ്പലുകളുടെ സമയവിവരങ്ങൾ ശേഖരിക്കാനും അവയ്ക്ക് മുന്നറിയിപ്പ് നൽകാനും ശ്രമിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. യു.എസും ഇറാനും തമ്മിൽ താൽക്കാലിക വെടിനിർത്തൽ ചർച്ചകൾ നടക്കുന്നതിനിടയിലാണ് ഇറാൻ്റെ ഈ പുതിയ നീക്കം. തങ്ങൾ നിർദ്ദേശിക്കുന്ന പാതകളിലൂടെ അല്ലാതെ പോകുന്ന കപ്പലുകൾക്ക് മേൽ നിയന്ത്രണം സ്ഥാപിക്കുകയാണ് ഇറാന്റെ ലക്ഷ്യം.
(With inputs from Iranintl)
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