ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezai on Sunday said a new “restricted zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz is set to be announced “in the coming days.”

“This zone will start from the line of the US Navy's blockade and extend to areas in the Persian Gulf,” Rezaei said in an interview, stressing that any ship that enters the new restricted zone will be placed on a sanctions list.

Hostilities between the US and Iran flared Tuesday evening when CENTCOM announced that it was targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran following its alleged attempts to attack commercial ships.

The strikes were followed by a series of Iranian airstrikes targeting US interests across the Middle East, including the Kurdistan Region, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

Despite Trump’s insistence that the Strait of Hormuz is open for transit, shipping data shows that commercial passage through the strategic waterway remains significantly below pre-conflict levels amid ongoing Iranian restrictions.

According to Rezaei, the US attempts to “smuggle” five to six ships at a time through the strait, which are “usually targeted,” adding that Iran does not sink them because they carry oil, which would lead to environmental damage.

Earlier on Sunday, the IRGC said it targeted a US naval drone that allegedly attempted to enter a “protected area” of the Strait of Hormuz, following a series of overnight exchanges between the two sides.

The remarks came after the warring sides traded fire overnight, with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) saying Saturday that it had targeted three Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iran reportedly targeting two US Navy ships.