Iran grants India, 4 others Hormuz passage

INTERNATIONAL – ASIA

27 MARCH 2026

• India, China, Russia, India, Iraq, and Pakistan are the five “friendly nations” who were allowed to move their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, adding that Tehran has established its “sovereignty” over the waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Dena Ship sinking

• Iran’s Foreign Minister thanked India and Sri Lanka for their “significant help” after an Iranian vessel, IRIS Dena, was sunk in a U.S. attack in the Indian Ocean during the conflict.
• “In the incident of the Dena ship, which was unfairly attacked without any warning, I must thank Sri Lanka and India for their significant help in transferring two other ships to a safe location,” he added.
• The Iranian frigate was attacked and sunk by a U.S. Navy submarine on March 4 off the coast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean while returning from exercises in Visakhapatnam.
• At least 87 sailors were killed in the attack.
• IRIS Lavan and IRIS Bushehr, which also came to the region to take part in the drills, have now docked in Kochi and Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee, respectively.

Strait of Hormuz

• The Strait of Hormuz, through which more than a hundred ships passed daily before the war, has seen traffic plunge to single digits since the conflict began.
• At least four India-flagged ships — Jag Vasant, Pine Gas, Shivalik, and Nanda Devi — have transited the strait since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, 2026.

Negotiation between Iran and U.S.

• Mr. Abbas Araghchi, who was Iran’s chief negotiator with the U.S. before the war, also said no talks were being held with the U.S.
• Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minster and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said “indirect talks” between the two sides are taking place through messages being relayed by Pakistan.
• “The U.S. has shared 15 points, being deliberated upon by Iran. Brotherly countries of Turkiye and Egypt, among others, are also extending their support to this initiative,” Mr. Dar wrote in a social media post.