Iran has turned back a vessel bound for Karachi, Pakistan, after it failed to secure approval to pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, a statement from the Iranian Embassy in Kabul said.
The Strait
of Hormuz — a vital maritime chokepoint which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the global oil and gas trade — came to a near-standstill in the wake of the conflict in West Asia.
“The container ship SELEN was turned back by the IRGC Navy due to failure to comply with legal protocols and lack of permission to pass through the
#Hormuz Strait”, the statement read.بازگرداندن یک کشتی در تنگهٔ هرمز توسط نیروی دریایی سپاه
کانتینربر SELEN بهدلیل عدم رعایت پروتکلهای قانونی و نداشتن مجوز عبور از تنگهٔ #هرمز، توسط نیروی دریایی سپاه به عقب بازگردانده شد.
عبور هرگونه شناور از این آبراهه مستلزم هماهنگی کامل با حاکمیت دریایی ج.ا.ایران است. pic.twitter.com/qarbqp7WVo— Embassy of the I.R. Iran in Kabul, Afghanistan (@IRANinKabul) March 24, 2026
“The passage of any vessel through this waterway requires full coordination with the maritime authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, it said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy later confirmed it had intervened as the ship had failed to comply with ‘legal protocols’.
Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said the ship was turned back for not obtaining permission to pass through the strait, adding the vessels must now coordinate transit with Iranian maritime authorities.
The development comes as Tehran has decided to charge some vessels USD 2 million (approximately Rs18.8 crore) to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to assert its control over the waterway amid its ongoing war with the US and Israel.
Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi told state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) that the move reflects what he called a new “sovereign regime” in the strait after decades.
“Collecting $2 million as transit fees from some vessels crossing the strait reflects Iran’s strength,” Boroujerdi said.
“Now, because war has costs, naturally we must do this and take transit fees from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
BJP’s Fresh Salvo
In the wake of the development, BJP’s IT Cell Head Amit Malviya took to ‘X’ and wrote, “So much for the ‘Pakistan is brokering peace’ narrative peddled by the usual suspects in India.”
So much for the “Pakistan is brokering peace” narrative peddled by the usual suspects in India.
Iran has reportedly turned back a vessel bound for Karachi after it failed to secure approval to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. https://t.co/3HDdeHdxWt
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 25, 2026
“Iran has reportedly turned back a vessel bound for Karachi after it failed to secure approval to pass through the Strait of Hormuz”, he added.
The statement came as multiple opposition party leaders targeted the BJP-led centre after Pakistan offered to negotiate the peace talks between the United States and Israel, an overture later amplified by US President Donald Trump in a social media post.
‘Strait Of Hormuz Open To All Except…’
Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had declared the Strait of Hormuz is open to all, except for Iran’s adversaries.
“The illusion of erasing Iran from the map shows desperation against the will of a history-making nation. Threats and terror only strengthen our unity. The Strait of Hormuz is open to all except those who violate our soil. We firmly confront delirious threats on the battlefield,” he wrote in a post on ‘X’.
The Strait of Hormuz was blocked by Iran as tensions in West Asia escalated, following the February 28 US-Israeli strikes on Tehran and the subsequent retaliatory attacks by the country across the Gulf.
