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By Parisa Hafezi and Jonathan Saul<\/p>\n
DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) – All ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz but \u200cthis needs to be coordinated with Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard \u200cCorps (IRGC), a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that unfreezing Iranian funds was part \u200bof the deal.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that the strait was open after a ceasefire accord was agreed in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end \u200cthe Iran war would \u2060come “soon”, although the timing remains unclear.<\/p>\n
The Iranian official said transits would be restricted to lanes that Iran deemed \u2060safe, adding that military vessels were still prohibited from crossing the strait.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear if this included or excluded the established \u200bTraffic Separation \u200bScheme (TSS) lanes for entering and \u200bexiting the Gulf used by \u200cinternational shipping since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
“Even U.S. vessels would be permitted, excluding military ships,” he said.<\/p>\n
The official added that certain routes through Hormuz would remain open, but added that those would need to be determined as secure by Iran.<\/p>\n
“Navigation would take place in coordination with Iran, \u200cand with authorisation from the Guards \u200band Iran\u2019s Ports and Maritime Organization to \u200bensure the safety of \u200bshipping,” the official said.<\/p>\n
Shipping industry associations said they were \u200creviewing the situation.<\/p>\n
“We are currently \u200bverifying the recent \u200bannouncement related to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, in terms of its compliance with freedom of navigation for all \u200bmerchant vessels and \u200csecure passage,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of UN shipping agency the \u200bInternational Maritime Organization (IMO), said separately.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and \u200bJonathan Saul; editing by Jason Neely)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n