Iranian strait authority says Sinokor vessels will face legal action

Iran’s ​Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a body set up by ‌Tehran to manage passage requests in the Strait of Hormuz, said on Tuesday that all vessels belonging to South Korean shipping company Sinokor would face “legal ​action” starting on November 1.

Tehran has sought to tighten ​its grip on the strategic waterway by attacking shipping ⁠there since US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February ​28. It has restricted transit to try to gain leverage over ​Washington, while disrupting oil flows from Arab Gulf oil producers, especially to their customers in Asia.

The authority said on X that Sinokor vessels had ​committed the highest number of crossing violations in the strait ​over the past three months, and “appropriate actions” had been taken against at least ‌seven ⁠of them.

Sinokor did not immediately comment on the authority’s statement.

Ships owned by Sinokor were previously included on a list issued by Iran in August of 45 tankers that it said had broken ​its rules for ​crossing the ⁠Strait of Hormuz.

In response to Iranian attacks, the United States also imposed a naval blockade against ​ships linked to the Islamic Republic in the ​strait.

While the ⁠blockade has all but choked off Iranian exports, Gulf producers have adapted to attacks on shipping by relying on so-called dark ⁠transits — ​switching off tankers’ tracking systems to evade ​detection — to protect the oil flows that underpin their economies.