Iran: It Is Our Right to Stop and Inspect Ships in the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian Deputy Parliament Speaker Mojtaba Zonnouri affirmed that "it is Iran's right to stop and inspect ships in the Strait of Hormuz whenever it deems necessary if it considers them a threat to Iranian national security." Zonnouri stated in an interview with the Iranian website "Didban" regarding the demand from some officials to close the Strait of Hormuz, despite water passages and straits being regulated by international laws: "Iran can stop ships whenever it wants and inspect them, and this is its right." He added, "International laws govern water passages, and no country can act arbitrarily," noting that "the passage of a weapons shipment through the Strait of Hormuz poses a danger to Iran's security and threatens its people, and in that case, it can be stopped and inspected."