A number of oil tankers sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday along a U.N.-recommended route, defying threats by Iran that any ship not following its approved route “will be dealt with accordingly.”Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The passage of the Liberian-flagged vessel — perhaps aptly named the Stoic Warrior — came amid continued uncertainty about the future of the crucial waterway.The initial U.S.-Iran agreement included reopening the key trade route, but the two sides have been engaged in public disputes over the terms of that deal.The initial 60-day agreement brought significant relief to energy markets, the shipping industry and the thousands of sailors stranded in the Persian Gulf.
However, it left key questions unresolved, including how traffic would be managed and how mines purportedly laid by Iran would be cleared.Traffic has also remained far below pre-war levels.Oil tankers and cargo vessels remain anchored off the coast of Oman on Sunday.Elke Scholiers / Getty ImagesSecretary of State Marco Rubio, touring Gulf nations in an effort to reassure U.S.
allies over the deal, said Thursday the waters of the Strait of Hormuz “do not belong to any station state.” But Iran’s navy blasted the route laid out by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a U.N.agency that oversees shipping at sea.
Vessels must use a route close to the Iranian coastline, the Revolutionary Guard Navy said, warning that transit otherwise is “highly dangerous and prohibited.”“A few hours ago, without prior notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, certain authorities announced a new route for vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,” it said.It warned that “any violating vessels will be dealt with accordingly,” without elaborating.Stoic Warrior attempted its exit early Thursday out of the Persian Gulf, moving westward along the coastline of United Arab Emi...