Iranian Revolutionary Guard Announces Restricted Zone Expansion to Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea

Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced on Wednesday the extension of a restricted marine zone from Chabahar in Iran to include parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, noting that its precise coordinates will be declared later. This announcement follows previous statements by Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, last Sunday, indicating that Iran would establish a forbidden zone outside the Strait of Hormuz soon. Rezaei clarified that this zone would extend from the American naval blockade line to areas in the Gulf, warning that any vessel entering it would be added to the sanctions list. Increasing reciprocal attacks between the United States and Iran have destabilized the relative calm of the past month, targeting military sites, shipping, and energy facilities, leading to a jump in oil prices. In this context, Washington announced on Tuesday the destruction of five Iranian oil tankers. The U.S. Central Command published a video of the strikes, describing them as a response to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's targeting of a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in the preceding two days. It confirmed that no Americans were harmed. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Colombia, stated that "Iran continues its attempts to target U.S. warships, and every time it does or tries to do so, it will lose oil tankers."