By Parisa Hafezi and Jonathan Saul
DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) – All ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz but this needs to be coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that unfreezing Iranian funds was part of the deal.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that the strait was open after a ceasefire accord was agreed in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come “soon”, although the timing remains unclear.
The Iranian official said transits would be restricted to lanes that Iran deemed safe, adding that military vessels were still prohibited from crossing the strait.
It was not immediately clear if this included or excluded the established Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) lanes for entering and exiting the Gulf used by international shipping since the 1970s.
“Even U.S. vessels would be permitted, excluding military ships,” he said.
The official added that certain routes through Hormuz would remain open, but added that those would need to be determined as secure by Iran.
“Navigation would take place in coordination with Iran, and with authorisation from the Guards and Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization to ensure the safety of shipping,” the official said.
Shipping industry associations said they were reviewing the situation.
“We are currently verifying the recent announcement related to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, in terms of its compliance with freedom of navigation for all merchant vessels and secure passage,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of UN shipping agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said separately.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Jonathan Saul; editing by Jason Neely)
