Iran envoy hopeful six Bangladeshi ships will pass Hormuz soon

Specifications of the ships have been provided to Tehran and the Iranian government is working to help them cross, the ambassador says

Iranian Ambassador to Dhaka Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi has expressed hope that six Bangladeshi ships caught in the Persian Gulf amid the ongoing war in the Middle East will pass through the Strait of Hormuz soon.

Speaking at a press conference at the embassy in the capital on Wednesday, he said although Bangladesh had requested assistance in allowing the ships to pass, Tehran could not identify them previously due to lack of specifications.

Still, he says, the Iranian government is attempting to ensure their passage with the specifications it received last week.

“I hope that Bangladeshi fuel-carrying ships will pass through the Strait of Hormuz soon and if there is any fuel crisis in Bangladesh, it will be resolved,” the ambassador said.

Iran has tightened its grip on fuel supplies through the Strait of Hormuz following attacks by the US and Israel. The waterway is responsible for transporting 20 percent of the world’s oil supply.

Despite intense airstrikes, Tehran has not allowed any ship to pass through the narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf without its permission. The government has maintained that they will only allow oil tankers from “friendly” countries to pass.

In response to a question about how the ships could return, Jahanabadi said: “We have been informed about these six ships. We have informed Tehran about them. Iran’s National Security Council has approved assistance to these ships.

“But we have not been able to identify these ships because the specifications for these ships had not been received in detail.”

The Bangladesh government has now provided specifications regarding the ship numbers, the types of fuel they use, which routes they are on, etc at the request of Iran and now the process is being worked on, the envoy said.

“We sent the full specifications of the ships to Tehran last week and work is under way. There are no problems with the movement of these Bangladeshi ships, so we will provide all-out cooperation in this regard.”

Bangladesh is a friend to Iran and shares a brotherly bond, as its foreign minister recently said, Jahanabadi claimed.

Six Bangladeshi-flagged ships are stranded due to the risks of traversing the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflict.

The Iranian envoy said Tehran will try to prevent its Muslim brothers in the region from suffering any hardship and said if there was any unintentional inconvenience, the people of Bangladesh would understand given the circumstances.