Iran allowed “friendly countries”, including India, to pass the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in West Asia, the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Araghchi said that the other countries were China, Russia, Iraq and Pakistan, the Iranian consulate general in Mumbai stated on social media.
He reiterated that vessels linked to Iran’s adversaries will not be allowed to transit through the strait, PTI reported.
“The region is a war zone, and there is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass through,” the news agency quoted Araghchi as having told the Iranian state broadcaster. “But it remains open to others.”
Since the beginning of the conflict on February 28, Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels. About 20% of the global fuel supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.
The blocking of the strategic waterway disrupted energy supplies and led to a spike in global oil and gas prices.
Following a marginal drop in global oil prices on Wednesday, the benchmark Brent crude traded above the $100 per barrel-mark on Thursday. The price was $78 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started.
The International Energy Agency has said that the fighting has caused the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.
Some India-bound vessels, among others, carrying energy supplies, have passed the strait in the past two weeks.
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