{"id":921,"date":"2026-05-21T16:39:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/21\/inside-hormuz-rt-gets-rare-look-at-gridlock-in-vital-shipping-lane-video\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:39:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:39:38","slug":"inside-hormuz-rt-gets-rare-look-at-gridlock-in-vital-shipping-lane-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=921","title":{"rendered":"Inside Hormuz: RT gets rare look at gridlock in vital shipping lane (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Tehran has tightened control over the waterway as peace talks with the US have so far remained fruitless<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>RT has gained rare access to the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds of vessels are backed up waiting to pass through one of the world\u2019s most critical shipping chokepoints.<\/p>\n<p>The waterway has remained largely shut since the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February and Tehran\u2019s subsequent standoff with Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, Iran announced the creation of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a new body tasked with overseeing transit through the strategic passage, which carries roughly a fifth of the world\u2019s seaborne oil and LNG. Tehran said that vessels seeking passage would need PGSA permits and declared a sweeping zone of control stretching from its coastline toward waters near the UAE.<\/p>\n<figure>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.05\/original\/6a0f1bc285f5405ed43aa837.png\"><figcaption>\n                                    The zone of oversight claimed by the Iranian armed forces around the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>                <span class=\"copyright\"><br \/>\n                      \u00a9\u00a0RT                                                           <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to RT correspondent Saman Kojouri, <em>\u201cthe scale of the maritime congestion here is immediately visible\u201d<\/em> with hundreds of vessels in the area, many awaiting permission from Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to pass.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n        <span><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mf.b37mrtl.ru\/files\/2026.05\/thumbnail\/6a0db27285f5402e115d5f52.jpg\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO.\"><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/640276-what-going-on-strait-hormuz-iran-us\/\">Iran\u2019s insurance, NATO intervention, and cables under threat: What\u2019s going on in the Strait of Hormuz?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While Iran insists that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to crucial energy shipments, it stresses that vessels need to coordinate their passage with the IRGC, and that <em>\u201ccountries considered hostile toward Iran cannot freely operate inside and through the corridor,\u201d<\/em> Kojouri said.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran has maintained that the measures are in place <em>\u201cto prevent further escalation\u201d<\/em> and preserve regional stability in the Middle East, he added.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to resume strikes on Iran if the Islamic Republic did not give Washington <em>\u201cthe right answers\u201d<\/em> in the peace negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>Watch RT&#8217;s full report from the Strait of Hormuz below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tehran has tightened control over the waterway as peace talks with the US have so&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}