"We have not closed the strait. In our opinion, the strait is open. It is closed only to ships belonging to our enemies, countries that attack us. For other countries, ships can pass through the strait ,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Japan’s Kyodo News late on Friday. AlJazeera reported.
We are talking to them to find a way to pass safely. We are ready to provide them with safe passage. All they need to do is contact us to discuss how this route will be,” Araghchi said, according to an English transcript of the interview shared on his Telegram account.
Japan sources more than 90 percent of its crude oil imports from the Middle East and is heavily dependent on exports transiting the strait, but the waterway has been de facto closed since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned in the early days of the war that its forces would set “ablaze” any ships trying to transit the waterway, bringing marine traffic to a near standstill.
Over the past week, however, Iran has toned down the rhetoric to say the strait is only closed to Tehran’s enemies.
Japan may soon join the small cohort of countries mainly China, India, and Pakistan whose vessels have been allowed to transit the waterway in recent days, with approval from Iranian authorities.
Lloyd’s List, a shipping and maritime information service, separately reported that 10 ships have transited the strait by sailing close to Iran’s coastline – a route that is emerging as a “safe corridor” for shipping.
