Tehran says Iraq will face no restrictions in waterway, praising country\u2019s \u2018struggle\u2019 against the US.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Published On 5 Apr 2026<\/span>5 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Iran has announced that Iraqi ships are free to pass the Strait of Hormuz, the latest sign of Tehran easing its stranglehold on the critical conduit for global energy supplies.<\/p>\n Iraq will be exempt from all restrictions in the strait, with controls only applying to \u201cenemy countries\u201d, Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement on Saturday.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cWe hold profound respect for Iraq\u2019s national sovereignty,\u201d the military command said in the statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are a nation that bears the scars of American occupation, and your struggle against the US is worthy of praise and admiration.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s announcement comes after US President Donald Trump reiterated his demands for Tehran to make a deal or relinquish control of the waterway, warning in a social media post that \u201call hell\u201d will rain down within 48 hours otherwise.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters rejected Trump\u2019s demand, calling his threat a \u201chelpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action\u201d.<\/p>\n Iran has effectively blockaded the strait, which usually carries about one-fifth of global oil and liquified natural gas supplies, since the US and Israel launched their war on the country on February 28.<\/p>\n While maritime traffic has ticked up in recent weeks under a de facto toll booth system imposed by Tehran, it is still down more than 90 percent from normal levels, according to ship tracking data.<\/p>\n According to Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence, there were 53 transits through the strait last week, the most since the war began, up from 36 the previous week.<\/p>\n On Friday, a French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker crossed the strait in the first apparent transits linked to either country since the start of the conflict.<\/p>\n The collapse of shipping in the waterway has thrown a wrench in global energy markets, pushing up fuel prices and prompting authorities in many countries to roll out emergency energy conservation measures.<\/p>\n Brent crude, the\u00a0international\u00a0benchmark,\u00a0has hovered above\u00a0$109\u00a0a barrel\u00a0in recent days, with many analysts predicting prices to surge much higher\u00a0if the waterway is not unblocked soon.<\/p>\n Iraq\u2019s oil production, which provides most of Baghdad\u2019s revenues, has been hit especially hard by the war.<\/p>\n Iraq\u2019s Ministry of Oil announced last month that production had fallen to 1.2 million barrels a day, down from 4.3 million barrels, amid declining crude shortage capacity due to the effective halt of exports through the strait.<\/p>\n Iraq was the world\u2019s sixth-biggest oil producer in 2023, accounting for 4 percent of global supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/jp-1730786685-rotated.jpg?resize=96%2C96&quality=80)
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