U.S. Military Guidance Reveals High-Risk Reality of Hormuz's 'Southern Highway'

As Washington and Tehran move toward implementing a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending months of conflict, a newly circulated U.S. military document is offering the clearest picture yet of the extraordinary measures that have kept at least some commercial shipping moving through the Strait of Hormuz amid one of the most dangerous security environments in recent maritime history.

The undated FAQ, distributed to maritime industry partners, details procedures for transiting what the U.S. military calls the “Deep South Route”—an emergency corridor running south of the Strait’s traditional Traffic Separation Scheme through Omani territorial waters.

The route appears to correspond to