Ammon News - The new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Sunday said Tehran plans to announce an "exclusion zone" outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway.

Mohsen Rezaei's comments to Iran's state broadcaster came with few details, a day after the U.S. struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Tehran launching ballistic missiles at U.S. warships. Experts called the launches a dangerous escalation after Iran's previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

The new zone should be announced in the coming days and weeks and "will begin from the line of the U.S. naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf," Rezaei said. "Any ship that enters this area with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz and is identified will be placed on our sanctions list."

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level since May following US and Iranian strikes on tankers, according to shipping data.

An average of 10 commodity vessels a day crossed the waterway over the past 10 days, Kpler data showed, down from more than 15 on Friday and nearly 13 on Saturday.

Only two vessels transited the strait on Saturday and six on Sunday, most using the Iranian route.

On Sunday, one very large crude carrier and three bulk carriers carrying metals, grains or oilseeds entered the strait, according to Kpler. No very large crude carrier has exited the Strait of Hormuz since Wednesday, according to Kpler.

A tanker carrying refined products loaded at a Saudi port attempted to exit but was turned back, LSEG data showed.