Govt refutes ordering temporary suspension of port entries in Pakistan

The government on Thursday refuted a “fabricated” notification claiming the Cabinet Division had ordered the “temporary suspension of all port entries in Pakistan” due to the security situation until March 10.

“No such order has been issued by the Cabinet Division or the Ministry of Maritime Affairs,” the information ministry clarified in a fact check.

The clarification comes amid the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, which have disrupted sea traffic coming through the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast.

Pakistan has formally requested that Saudi Arabia provide an alternative oil supply route through its port city of Yanbu to maintain its fuel supply chain in the wake of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

However, the fake notification, dated March 4, did not make any mention of the Iran war.

It claimed that an emergency meeting had been convened by the maritime affairs ministry “in view of the prevailing security situation”, without expanding further on the security concerns.

The fabricated notification had listed the Karachi, Gwadar, Pasni, Ormara and Jiwani ports as those where “all types of entries” were to be temporarily suspended.

Disinformation and misinformation have spiked in recent days amid the ongoing war between Iran and Israel, which the United States also joined.

Some claims recently making the rounds on social media, which have been debunked, can be accessed here.