|
Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), Iran's new body to manage the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, condemned the US sanctions on it and vowed to continue its operations "without interruptions".
Firing back at the US, PGSA said that Washington has "failed to achieve" control on the Strait of Hormuz through warfare and will achieve the same results through sanctions. "The U.S. Treasury Department recently announced sanctions on PGSA. PGSA, while condemning this action, considers being sanctioned by a country whose leader takes pride in piracy as a sign of its own positive performance. You will not gain control over the Strait of Hormuz, which you failed to achieve through warfare and diplomacy, by means of sanctions either," PGSA said in a post on X. The body said that it will continue to review and grant passage permits to "non-hostile" vessels in order to facilitate navigation. "Despite the provocative actions of the United States in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, this body continues, without interruption, to review and grant passage permits to non-hostile vessels in order to facilitate navigation. Statistics from the first month of the PGSA's activities will be published soon," it said. This comes after the US imposed sanctions on PGSA, accusing Tehran of using the body to "extort" commercial vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz and "funnelling" revenue to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The move, announced by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), adds the PGSA to the Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list as part of the US President Trump's administration's intensified "Economic Fury" campaign aimed at increasing pressure on Iran amid ongoing regional tensions. According to the Treasury Department, the PGSA was established by Iran to manage requests from ships seeking passage through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. US officials alleged the authority works closely with the IRGC and the IRGC Navy to direct vessel traffic and impose "illegitimate tolls" on international maritime commerce. "The Iranian military's latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, according to the official release. "Through Economic Fury, the United States has imposed a financial stranglehold on the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions. Under President Trump's leadership, we will remain relentless in our pursuit to constrict the network of vessels, intermediaries, and buyers through which Iran exports both its oil and malevolence." Bessent added. Last week, PGSA defined the boundaries of the Strait of Hormuz management supervision area. In a post on X, PGSA stated that the supervision area starts from the line connecting Kuh Mobarak in Iran and the south of Fujairah in the UAE in the east of the Strait of Hormuz, to the line connecting the end of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm al-Qaiwain in the UAE in the west of the Strait of Hormuz. The management body said, "Frequencies in this range for passing through the Strait of Hormuz require coordination with the Persian Gulf Waterway Management and a permit from this entity." (ANI)
|
