By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday dismissed as fabricated a notice circulating on social media that claimed authorities had ordered the temporary suspension of all port entries nationwide until March 10, a move that would have compounded supply-chain risks already heightened by the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.
The information ministry’s Fact Checker account posted on X that “the notification is FABRICATED” and stressed that “no such order has been issued by the Cabinet Division or the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.” The denial came hours after the document, dated March 4 and purporting to originate from the Cabinet Division, spread rapidly online.
The fake notice asserted that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, acting on instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office following an emergency meeting, had decided to halt “all types of entries” at the Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, Gwadar Port Authority, and the ports of Pasni, Ormara and Jiwani. It described the step as being taken “in the interest of national security and strategic preparedness” and referenced only a vague “prevailing security situation,” without mentioning the war in the Middle East.
The clarification arrives as hostilities between Iran, Israel and the United States have closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s critical oil chokepoints, disrupting tanker traffic that supplies most of Pakistan’s fuel imports. Tensions surged after US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran began Feb. 28, following stalled negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran later confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the strikes and responded with drone and missile attacks on U.S. military sites in the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Disinformation and misinformation have proliferated in Pakistan and across the region in recent days amid the conflict. The fabricated notice made no explicit reference to the Iran war or the Hormuz shutdown, a detail the information ministry highlighted in its rebuttal. Pakistan has moved swiftly to protect its petroleum supplies. The country formally requested that Saudi Arabia open an alternative crude-oil route through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the petroleum ministry said Wednesday. Officials have dismissed fears of an imminent fuel shortage, even as the Hormuz closure threatens the flow of imports from Middle Eastern suppliers.
In a parallel step, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority instructed oil companies to manage deliveries to retail outlets, aiming to prevent hoarding and artificial price spikes as Gulf tensions mount. The regulator’s directive is intended to maintain orderly distribution while authorities secure longer-term alternatives.
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