MORE: Iran’s top operational military headquarters, the Khatam ol Anbia Central Headquarters, warned on July 2 that Iran will deliver a “decisive and swift” response to any US interference in Iranian efforts to manage the strait. The statement added that all oil tankers and commercial vessels must use the Iranian-designated route for safe passage and warned that the armed forces will respond to any vessel that uses an alternative route.
Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels in the strait to coerce them to use the illegal Iranian traffic separation scheme and thus implicitly recognize Iranian control over the waterway.[3] Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said on July 2 that the strait is under Iranian control, not that of US Central Command (CENTCOM), after CENTCOM hosted a regional security meeting in Bahrain with military commanders from Gulf and other regional states. The meeting in Bahrain comes amid Gulf opposition to Iranian control over the strait.
Iran is meanwhile conducting a concerted diplomatic and military effort in response to the apparent resistance from Gulf countries to try to deter any international efforts to restore maritime traffic outside Iranian control. Iran recently attacked commercial vessels in the strait after the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Oman announced a new route on June 23 to move hundreds of stranded vessels through the strait through a designated safe route along the Omani coast, for example.Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar)Iran Update Special Report, July 2, 2026: Iran has signaled that it will continue to use force to compel vessels to exclusively use the Iranian traffic separation scheme in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the broader Iranian effort to assert claimed control.
Additional Key Takeaway:
Iranian forces may have launched an effort against Kurdish militancy around the Iran-Iraq border. The exact military objectives are unclear at this time. (1/2)— https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/2072806165956718795