New Delhi, July 2 -- MUSCAT - A foreign container ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after using a route Iran had not authorized, the latest demonstration that the Islamic Republic's navigation regime in the world's most critical shipping corridor is being enforced on the water, not just described in joint statements.

"Any entry or exit via routes other than the authorized one in the Persian Gulf could lead to irreparable consequences," the IRGC statement read. The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it had not recorded any incident in the strait as of midmorning Wednesday, a discrepancy that has become routine in Hormuz reporting. Iran's state media and Western maritime tracking systems rarely agree on what is ha...