Three Indian-flagged crude oil supertankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and are sailing for home with 94 Indian crew aboard — slipping through, it now appears, mere hours before Iran’s military declared the strait shut again, citing Israeli strikes in Lebanon and accusing the US of bad faith.
<figure class="art
Tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg had shown one of the three ships, Desh Vibhor, still manoeuvring through the strait earlier in the day, after briefly turning toward a southern route recommended by the US military and then reversing back toward Iran’s coast.
Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal confirmed in the evening that all three tankers — Desh Vaibhav, Desh Vibhor and Sanmar Herald — had safely transited and were en route to India.
ALSO READ |Donald Trump says no toll on Strait of Hormuz, threatens a US levy if Iran talks fail
The tankers are carrying upwards of 860,000 tonnes of crude between them — about 285,000 tonnes each — and are expected in India between June 24 and July 1, Sonowal said.
Desh Vaibhav is due at Vadinar and Desh Vibhor at Sikka, both in Gujarat, on June 24; Sanmar Herald, the last of the three to cross, is scheduled to reach Paradip, Odisha, on July 1.
“Our ministry is actively coordinating with all relevant agencies to guarantee the absolute safety of Bharat’s seafarers and energy lifelines,” Sonowal said, crediting the government’s “highest priority” focus on maritime security under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ten Indian vessels remain in the Persian Gulf, on the western side of the strait the three tankers had just crossed, according to the ministry’s latest status update.
The strait had reopened earlier this week after Washington and Tehran signed an interim deal to end their war, under which Iran agreed to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in exchange for a US sanctions waiver allowing it to sell oil freely.
The US lifted its naval blockade of Iran on Thursday, ending a closure that had left the strait largely unusable for months — though Iran had maintained throughout that no vessel could cross without its permission.
But in the evening on Saturday, Iran’s joint military command said it was shutting the strait as a response to Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon and what it called US “bad faith” in failing to end the war, in “clear breach” of its commitments.
Its statement on state television warned that “if the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned.”
ALSO READ |PM Modi raises safety of ‘lakhs of Indian seafarers’ in Hormuz in G7 meeting with Trump
The declaration came even as Iran confirmed its negotiating team — including parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, and central bank and oil officials — was travelling to Switzerland for talks, a trip originally scheduled for Friday.
Pakistan, the key mediator, said technical-level discussions would begin Sunday in Bürgenstock, with Qatari mediators also taking part.
But foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Bagahei signalled little would come of the visit until Iran was satisfied the US was honouring the deal.
“This trip is therefore about demanding that the other side fulfil its obligations,” he said — talks toward a final agreement, he added, would begin only once key commitments were upheld.
If not, “then the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardised.”
