With the Aug. 17 expiration of the 60-day memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, there’s little indication either side is backing down from dueling narratives about who controls access to the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.
It remains a tale of two straits.
Tehran maintains the 104-mile-long waterway is closed to ships unless they enter and exit the gulf through the Iranian Unilateral Scheme, or northern route, that previously was exclusively used for inbound traffic.
Global shippers refute any Iranian claim of sovereignty and Washington maintains ships are moving through the United Nations’ authorized southern route, along the Omani coast, that was formerly designed for outbound traffic into the Gulf of Oman, under the protection of U.S. Navy destroyers….