The United States and Iran continued their tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes over the weekend, targeting warships and oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

With Iran warning that it will declare a new maritime control zone outside the Strait of Hormuz and the United States maintaining its stance to continue blockades using naval power and supporting crude oil shipments, a breakthrough to end the war remains out of sight.

Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary-General of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said in an interview with Iran's state-run IRIB broadcast on the 6th (local time) that "within days, we will officially announce a control zone outside the Strait of Hormuz."

Secretary-General Rezaei stated that the new control zone will "extend from the blockade line established by the U.S. Navy to the waters around the Persian Gulf," warning that any vessel entering this zone will be placed on Iran's sanctions list.

He also dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the Strait of Hormuz is open as a "bold-faced lie," asserting that the strait is currently in a state of virtual blockade.

This remark came after the U.S. and Iran engaged in an armed clash in the strait the previous day.

In response to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) firing ballistic missiles at two U.S. Navy warships patrolling the waters, the U.S. military struck three Iranian crude oil transport vessels.

The Revolutionary Guard then countered by striking three oil tankers using unauthorized routes and U.S.-linked vessels, claiming to have also attacked one U.S. aircraft carrier and one destroyer with multiple ballistic missiles.

Iran's hardline stance was also evident in remarks by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has led peace negotiations.

He warned that "the era of proportional response is over," and that any future act violating Iran's interests and security will be met with "faster, heavier, and more painful" retaliation.

"The strikes we recently inflicted on the aggressors' bases are just the beginning," he emphasized, adding, "If the United States has not yet understood this, it must realize before it is too late that the rules of the game have completely changed."

The United States also made it clear that it has no intention of easing military operations in Hormuz.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in interviews with CNN and Fox News that U.S. military support is currently essential for crude oil shipments through Hormuz, asserting that "the U.S. Navy is winning that fight."

He went on to emphasize that such support operations are the "new normal" at this point in time.

"Global trade is important, and this should not be America's responsibility alone," he said, expressing hope that military assets from allies and friendly nations outside the Middle East will be deployed swiftly.

However, analysis suggests that commercial vessel traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has not returned to normal despite the U.S. military stepping up to protect oil tankers.

According to The New York Times (NYT), at least 23 vessels were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz between July and August.

While U.S. protection operations allow millions of barrels of crude oil to exit the strait daily, many private shipping companies have yet to resume operations due to fears of Iranian attacks.

Soaring war risk insurance premiums for ships, cargo, and crews are also adding to the burden.

The volume of crude oil passing through the strait also falls far short of pre-war levels.

According to shipping analytics firm TankerTrackers.com, crude oil passing through Hormuz over the past seven days averaged 6.7 million barrels per day, which is about 40 percent of the pre-war level from late February.

Eugene Gholz, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, described the current situation by saying, "The strait is neither fully closed nor fully open. Iran cannot fully close the strait, and the U.S. cannot fully open it."

Diplomatic breakthroughs also remain murky.

Secretary Wright mentioned that a nuclear deal with Iran might not happen at all, raising the possibility that the United States may instead focus on neutralizing Iran's nuclear development capabilities.

He also noted that a nuclear agreement "could be pushed off to the next administration."


(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)