Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz closed on Sunday, saying it would stay shut "until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region". Within hours the United States said the opposite: commercial vessels are still transiting, and the strait is not Iran's to close.
Both statements describe the same stretch of water on the same day, and the shipping industry is being asked to pick one. The Joint Maritime Information Center, the US Navy-led body that coordinates merchant traffic through the Gulf, has left its guidance in place. An expanded southern route hugging the Omani coast remains available for two-way traffic, at a maritime security threat level the centre rates as severe.
What is not in dispute is that ships are being hit. The Revolutionary Guard said it struck the GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship, about 17 kilometres east of Oman, for sailing what it called an unauthorised route. The vessel suffered an engine room fire and damage that left it unable to continue, and one crew member is missing. The Guard said it disabled a second vessel in the strait for "violating regulations". It did not name that ship.
Iran also fired on United States facilities in Gulf states on Sunday. The Revolutionary Guard said it targeted the Al Udeid air base in Qatar, and sirens and explosions were reported in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. No casualty figures from those strikes have been confirmed.
US Central Command said American forces struck about 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday, and more than 300 across three nights, describing the objective as degrading Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the strait. The targets included missile and drone sites, naval capability, ammunition storage and communications. President Donald Trump ordered the strikes.
Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, set out the American position on Monday. "President Trump, if shipping is attacked or if the Iranians want to act belligerent, then he will respond with overwhelming force," he said. "In this most recent attack, 140 or more military targets were attacked by the United States. Because that's what you do. You show strength."
The diplomacy is running through Muscat rather than Washington. Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, met Oman's Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, on Saturday. Oman's foreign ministry said the two discussed mechanisms for the safe transit of vessels and agreed to keep talking at political and technical levels "to reach the necessary understandings in accordance with international law". The interim agreement signed last month, the one meant to reopen the strait, gave both sides a 60-day window to negotiate.
Australia has hardware in the Gulf and no seat at that table. An RAAF E-7A Wedgetail has been deployed to the region since March, the embassy in Tehran is suspended, and the government's travel advice for Iran is do not travel. The mediation is being run by Oman and Qatar.
As of Monday the strait's status depends on who is describing it. Iran calls it closed. The United States calls it open. The Joint Maritime Information Center is still routing merchant ships down a corridor that runs close to the Omani coast, and at least two vessels have been hit on that water in three days. The talks in Muscat continue.
