A SHIP ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported today.

According to the report, the foreign container vessel “ran aground with its cargo because of shallow waters along the route it had chosen and was unable to continue sailing.”

The navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “has repeatedly warned captains, shipowners and officials of shipping companies around the world that any entry or exit through routes other than the ‘route of authority’ in the Persian Gulf could lead to irreparable incidents,” the report said.

Long considered an international waterway, the strait saw a fifth of all oil and natural gas pass through it before the United States and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.

Since then, Tehran has choked off the waterway, disrupting global supplies of energy and other critical goods.

Iran and the United States have agreed to allow ships to sail through unhindered for 60 days, but Tehran insists it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage.

The US and many Gulf states say they won’t accept the charges, but an effort to open a new route near Oman’s shore sparked attacks across the Middle East last weekend.