Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ali Fadavi has said the Strait of Hormuz remains under Iran’s control, warning that vessels using a US-supervised route in the southern part of the waterway could be targeted at any time.In a televised interview, Fadavi said only around 3–4 million barrels of oil are currently being transported through the route, which runs along Oman’s coast. He described the volume as negligible compared with oil shipments through the Strait before the war.Fadavi also dismissed threats of possible US military action, saying Washington had failed in Afghanistan and Iraq and would fail again.Meanwhile, several reports indicate that crude oil exports from the Middle East have returned to pre-war levels. In the final week of September, the region’s countries reportedly exported an average of 18.5 million barrels of crude oil per day.The oil was shipped through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, as well as through terminals in the Gulf of Oman and via ship-to-ship transfers. The contrasting developments highlight the continuing tension around one of the world’s most important oil transit routes, while regional crude exports remain at a high level.