Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced on Wednesday the expansion of a restricted maritime zone, which will now extend from Chabahar in Iran to parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The precise coordinates of this area are expected
to be declared at a later time. This announcement follows earlier statements by Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which were reported by official media on Sunday. Rezaei had indicated Iran's intention to establish a restricted zone outside
the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days. According to Rezaei, this "prohibited" maritime area would stretch from the American naval blockade line to other regions in the Gulf, cautioning that any vessel entering this new zone would be added
to the sanctions list. The recent period has witnessed an escalation in reciprocal attacks between the United States and Iran, disrupting a month of relative calm. These assaults targeted military sites, shipping traffic, and energy installations, leading to a rise in
oil prices. In a related development, Washington announced on Tuesday the destruction of five Iranian oil tankers. The US Central Command released a video of the strikes, stating they were a response to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's targeting of a US
Navy warship twice with ballistic missiles over the preceding two days. The Command added that no Americans were harmed. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a visit to Colombia that "Iran continues its attempts to target American warships,
and every time it does so or attempts to do so, it will lose oil tankers."
