ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iranian authority overseeing the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday said it has added 122 ships to its “non-compliance list” since May, while over 40 have been “confronted”, adding that ships can be removed from the list if they begin to comply.

“So far, 122 vessels have been added to the Persian Gulf Waterway Management Non-Compliance List,” The state-run Persian Gulf Authority (PGSA) said, adding: “More than 40 vessels have been confronted.”

Iran established the PGSA in May to regulate transit through the Strait of Hormuz and tighten its chokehold on the vital waterway.

The Monday statement said 19 other ships were in talks to be removed from the list or avoid being added entirely, noting that two have been removed after their compliance and 30 others have been warned and would be added to the list if they did not respond.

Iran shut the key Strait of Hormuz in late February as a means in its war against the US and Israel, sharply driving up global oil prices. The US has also imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran has insisted on its management of the strait, which the US has rejected. Freedom of navigation in the international waterway has been a key demand for Washington in the negotiations with Tehran.

The two sides reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June which collapsed mere weeks later after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed Iranian forces had shot at a Cyprus-flagged ship.

Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until its conditions in the MoU are met.

In recent weeks, several ships have collided with sea mines laid by Iranian forces. On Saturday,  an oil supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil exploded after hitting a naval mine while attempting to cross the strait via what the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) called an “unauthorized route.”