Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has expanded the area it treats as part of its Strait of Hormuz operations to 200 to 300 miles from 20 to 30 miles, according to remarks by Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political director of the IRGC Navy, carried by Iranian state-affiliated media.
Akbarzadeh said the zone now runs from Jask and Sirik on Iran’s southern coast to beyond Qeshm and Greater Tunb islands, rather than being limited to the waters around Hormuz and Hengam islands.
The statement marks a further enlargement of the Hormuz area claimed for IRGC operations.
Earlier IRGC maps published on 4 May showed an expanded zone from Qeshm Island toward Umm al-Quwain and from Kuh Mobarak toward Fujairah.
The Strait of Hormuz is the main maritime gateway to the Gulf and a core export route for Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Qatar. Around one-fifth of global oil and LNG supply normally moves through the waterway.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is an Iranian military organisation. The IRGC Navy is its separate naval arm and conducts IRGC maritime activity in the Gulf and around the Strait of Hormuz.
