Iran Threatens To Disrupt Red Sea, Persian Gulf, And Sea Of Oman Shipping Over U.S. Blockade

Iran threatened to disrupt navigation in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Sea of Oman if the United States continued its blockade of Iranian ports, with the warnings carried by Iranian state television and reported by multiple outlets.

Fox News reported that Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, from the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned Tehran could shut down traffic in the Red Sea and other regional shipping lanes if the blockade continued, with the remarks aired by Iranian state television.

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In the same reporting, Fox News quoted Aliabadi saying the blockade “creates insecurity for Iran's commercial vessels and oil tankers” and constitutes “a prelude” to violating the ongoing U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

Fox News also included Aliabadi’s reported statement that “The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea.”

On the U.S. side, Fox News cited U.S. Central Command saying the U.S. stopped nine vessels attempting to break the blockade on Iranian ports, and that “During the first 48 hours of the U.S. blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports, no vessels have made it past U.S. forces.”

The dispute was also framed as a question of ceasefire compliance in other accounts, with Sky News Arabic saying the Iranian Armed Forces Chief General Ali Abdullah warned that the U.S. blockade and “creating a state of uncertainty about the security of Iranian merchant ships and oil tankers” would constitute a “prelude” to breaking the ceasefire in effect since April 8.

Iran’s threats were presented as conditional and tied directly to the continuation of the U.S. blockade, with multiple outlets quoting the same senior Iranian commander and describing the scope of the threatened disruption.

Newsweek said Iranian officials warned that they would “fully block exports and imports across the Persian Gulf region” if the United States did not lift its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, and it reported that the threat covered the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea.

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Newsweek also quoted Ali Abdollahi saying, “Iran will act with strength to defend its national sovereignty and its interests,” per the Associated Press.

Newsweek further described the commander’s statement broadcast by Iranian state television, including the line that “The powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea,” and it said the commander was Ali Abdollahi.

Ynetnews similarly reported that Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya emergency headquarters, said Tehran would not allow the import or export of goods through the Persian Gulf, the nearby Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea unless the United States lifted the blockade imposed earlier this week around the Strait of Hormuz.

The Arabic-language Mubasher live report likewise stated that Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi warned that Tehran would not allow the passage of any exports or imports through these strategic corridors if the United States continued its blockade.

U.S. enforcement actions were described in detail, including claims about how quickly the blockade affected Iranian maritime trade and how many vessels were turned back.

Sky News Arabic said the U.S. military announced on Wednesday that the Iranian ports had been “completely blockaded,” and that sea traffic to and from Iran had stopped entirely.

Sky News Arabic also quoted CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper saying that “the naval blockade has been applied to Iranian ports in full, with U.S. forces maintaining naval supremacy in the Middle East.”

The same Sky News Arabic report added a specific economic estimate, stating that “It is estimated that 90 percent of the Iranian economy depends on international sea trade,” and it said that “in less than 36 hours since the blockade was imposed, U.S. forces have completely halted sea trade to and from Iran.”

Fox News likewise cited U.S. Central Command saying “During the first 48 hours of the U.S. blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports, no vessels have made it past U.S. forces,” and it added that “9 vessels have complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or coastal area.”

Fox News also reported that U.S. Central Command released a statement saying the U.S. stopped nine vessels attempting to break the blockade on Iranian ports, and it said all nine were oil tankers.

While Iran and the United States traded threats, several reports described parallel diplomatic efforts and political reactions from regional leaders.

NZ Herald said talks could resume as early as this week, citing NBC News reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump said the war was “very close to over,” while Tehran said messages were still being exchanged via Pakistan.

AP News

NZ Herald also reported that the threats were “apparently aired on Iranian state television” and that they were made by General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, and it described the Bab-el-Mandeb as a strait between Djibouti and Yemen linking the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Aden.

In the same NZ Herald piece, University of Otago international relations professor Robert Patman told The Front Page that Saudi Arabia would be nervous if the strait were compromised, and he warned that “If Iran backed up its threat [to end shipping in the Red Sea], it would paralyse Saudi Arabia’s ability to export oil.”

The ynetnews report placed the Iranian threat amid mediation efforts aimed at extending the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which it said is due to expire on April 22, and it reported that mediators were seeking to extend the truce by at least another two weeks.

Finally, ynetnews described a phone call between Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, described as the first official contact between the two countries since the start of the war, with the UAE’s state news agency saying they discussed regional developments and ways to reduce tensions.

The reporting tied Iran’s Red Sea threat to the broader stakes of global trade chokepoints, with multiple outlets describing how the corridor connects to other routes and why disruption would ripple beyond the immediate region.

Discoveryalert said the Red Sea serves as a critical gateway between Asia and Europe, handling approximately 12% of global maritime trade annually, and it described the narrow waterway connecting the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean via the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

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Discoveryalert also provided figures on energy transit, stating that the Red Sea processes approximately 4.8 million barrels of oil daily, and it said container traffic exceeds 200 vessels per day during peak seasons.

It further claimed that cargo valued at approximately $200 billion monthly flows through the region and that the economic impact of closure is “$200 billion monthly.”

StratNews Global framed the significance of Iran’s Red Sea threat as shifting the crisis from oil alone to a threat to “one of the world’s busiest trade corridors,” explaining that even limited missile or drone activity can make the route too risky by pushing up insurance costs and forcing shipping companies to pull back.

NZ Herald added a specific geographic framing by describing the Bab-el-Mandeb as the strait linking the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of Aden, and it quoted Patman warning that “If another vital waterway through the Red Sea is blocked, I think that would really cause enormous problems.”