Iran’s ambassador to India said Friday that Indian vessels would face no trouble in the Strait of Hormuz a pointed reassurance at a moment when the waterway is anything but calm.
“Yes, because India is our friend. You will see it within two or three hours. We believe that Iran and India share common interests in the region,” Ambassador Mohammad Fathali told reporters in Delhi, according to ANI. The conflict was in its 14th day. The Strait of Hormuz carries a large share of the world’s oil. Right now, it’s a problem.
“Iran has not closed the Strait” — but ships can’t pass
Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India, offered a version of events that was technically careful and practically alarming.
“Iran has not closed the Strait. It remains open; however, due to current conditions and circumstances, ships are unable to pass through the Hormuz. Otherwise, Iran never wanted the Strait to be closed or blocked. Some are still passing through,” he told reporters in Delhi. The Strait is open, in other words just not really usable.
Ilahi also pushed back hard on how the conflict started. Iran had been in talks with Washington before the shooting began, he said. Then the US and Israel struck first, hitting civilians. “We will win in this war, and we are prepared to sacrifice everything we possess for the sake of our dignity and our land,” he said.
He also called on world leaders to step in. “Those who initiated this war are the very ones who must stop it. World leaders must unite and exert pressure on the President of the United States, urging him to put an immediate stop to this unjust war.”
Pentagon: Don’t worry about it
At a press briefing, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth brushed off the Hormuz concerns. “As the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Strait of Hormuz something we’re dealing with; we have been dealing with it. Don’t need to worry about it.”
He was blunter about who he holds responsible: “The only thing prohibiting transit in the strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping.”
The situation on the water tells its own story. Reuters reported that explosive-laden Iranian boats attacked two fuel tankers in Iraqi waters, killing one crew member and setting both ships on fire. Projectiles hit four more vessels across the Gulf. Since the conflict began, at least 16 ships have been struck many of them linked to the US and Europe.
New Iranian leadership doubles down
The tone from Tehran’s new leadership is not one of de-escalation. In his first address after taking over, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei called for pressing the Hormuz advantage: “The leverage of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must certainly continue to be used.” He also vowed retaliation for the deaths of his father and others killed in US-Israeli strikes.
Iran’s ambassador is telling India not to worry. Its new Supreme Leader is telling his forces to keep blocking the waterway. Those two messages don’t quite fit together and for anyone routing oil through the Gulf right now, that gap is the whole problem.