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The United States has issued new guidelines for U.S.-flagged vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, asking them to stay away from Iranian territorial waters amid rising tensions between the two countries.
The advisory, released Monday by the U.S. Maritime Administration, asked captains of U.S. ships not to allow Iranian forces to board U.S. vessels.
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“When Iranian forces board a U.S.-flagged commercial vessel, the crew should not forcibly resist those on board. Refraining from forcible resistance does not imply consent or consent to board the vessel,” the guidelines state.
“U.S.-flagged commercial vessels transiting these waters are encouraged to remain as far away from Iranian territorial waters as possible without compromising navigational safety. When transiting eastward through the Strait of Hormuz, vessels are encouraged to pass close to Omani territorial waters.”
The recommendations came after the United States and Iran held a series of indirect talks in Oman on Friday, following weeks of escalating rhetoric and threats that brought the two countries to the brink of war.
delivery attack
The world’s shipping lanes and merchant shipping have historically been threatened by geopolitical turmoil, particularly in the Middle East.
During the Iran-Iraq conflict in the 1980s, both countries targeted commercial shipping in what was known as the Tanker War.
Most recently, Yemen’s Houthis launched attacks on Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea as part of an operation aimed at ending Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
When Israel bombed Iran last June, an Iranian lawmaker suggested that closing the Strait of Hormuz, the main shipping route between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, would be an option for Tehran if the war escalated.
The US government describes Hormuz as “the world’s most important oil chokepoint” due to its strategic location as a maritime gateway to energy-producing regions.
In late January, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) conducted naval exercises in the strait, and the US military warned Tehran against “dangerous and unprofessional” conduct.
The US military later announced that it shot down an Iranian drone that approached one of its aircraft carriers in the area.
The US government has previously seized Iranian oil tankers as part of its maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran.
In 2019, the United Arab Emirates reported alleged sabotage attacks on four ships in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman.
However, there have been no recent public threats against shipping in and around the Gulf by Iran or any other party.
The United States has amassed military assets in the region, and President Donald Trump regularly threatens to strike again against Iran, which sparked a wave of anti-government protests last month.
nuclear negotiations
President Trump said in December that the United States would attack Iran if it proceeded to rebuild its nuclear and missile programs.
During the June 2025 war, the US military was bombing three major Iranian nuclear facilities. The war was launched by Israel amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington at the time.
Iranian officials have said the current negotiations are “solely nuclear negotiations,” but the Trump administration has indicated it also wants to address Iran’s missile arsenal and its support for regional non-state actors like Hezbollah and Hamas.
On the nuclear front, a major point of contention in past negotiations was whether Iran, which denies developing nuclear weapons, would be allowed to enrich uranium domestically.
The Iranian government maintains that enriching uranium is a sovereign right and does not violate its commitments under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
However, President Trump is pushing for zero enrichment.
US Vice President Vance told reporters in Armenia on Monday whether the US was drawing the line on enrichment in the talks, and said that the final decision-maker would be Mr Trump and that the demands in the negotiations would likely be kept private.
“If you go back to the original negotiations between us and the Iranian side, the president was trying very hard to actually reach a constructive agreement that would be beneficial to the United States,” Vance said.
“But frankly, the entire administration agreed that if the Iranians had been smart enough to make that deal, it would have been good for them as well.”
