Iran is trying to assert its control
over the strait by charging for passage. Experts say it is unlikely to happen,
but
·
The
Strait of Hormuz normally handles:
o Around one-fifth of global oil and gas
trade.
o More than 130 vessel transits daily before
recent disruptions.
·
Analysts
and maritime authorities say the proposal likely violates international
maritime law, which protects:
o Freedom of navigation.
o Right of innocent passage through
international straits.
·
International
Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez stated that mandatory
tolls for passage through the strait would not be acceptable.
·
He
emphasized that:
o International navigation rights cannot be
overridden by unilateral fees.
o The Strait of Hormuz differs legally from
fee-based waterways such as:
§ Panama Canal
§ Suez Canal
·
Under
international law:
o Artificial canals may charge transit fees.
o International straits used for navigation
must generally remain free for passage.
·
Iran
launched a new regulatory body:
o Persian Gulf Strait Authority
·
The
authority is intended to:
o Oversee operations in the strait.
o Administer vessel charges reportedly
reaching up to:
§ $2 million per ship
·
Iran
also introduced:
o Hormuz Safe
o A proposed insurance mechanism allowing
shipping firms to pay Iran directly, including through cryptocurrency, for
transit coverage.
·
The
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy declared:
o Only Iranian-designated shipping corridors
are considered safe.
o Ships deviating from approved routes may
face attack risks.
·
Maritime
companies are increasingly concerned that:
o Iran could continue exerting influence
over the strait even after hostilities end.
o The conflict may permanently alter global
shipping norms and trade security.
·
According
to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development:
o About 11 billion tons of global trade move
by sea annually.
·
Analysts
warned that accepting Iranian tolls could:
o Set a dangerous precedent for other global
chokepoints.
o Encourage similar actions in disputed
waterways worldwide.
·
A
major obstacle to Iran’s plan is international sanctions compliance.
·
Shipping
firms paying Iranian transit charges may risk:
o Violating US and European sanctions.
o Losing insurance coverage from Western
insurers.
·
The
United States Department of the Treasury recently warned shipping operators
against making payments to Iran.
·
Industry
officials said:
o Most Western shipping companies remain
unwilling to engage in such transactions despite pressure to free stranded
vessels.
·
Donald
Trump stated that the United States would not accept any toll regime in the
Strait of Hormuz.
·
Trump
emphasized:
o The waterway is international.
o Transit should remain free.
·
Following
US and Israeli attacks on Iran earlier this year:
o Iran sharply restricted maritime traffic
through the strait.
o Energy prices surged globally.
·
Current
disruptions include:
o Approximately 1,500 ships stranded in the
Persian Gulf.
o Around 20,000 seafarers affected.
o Vessel movement reduced to a trickle.
·
The
United States Central Command reportedly:
o Redirected 94 commercial vessels.
o Disabled four vessels during enforcement
operations.
·
Analysts
say Iran’s leverage may be weakening because:
o US naval enforcement is restricting
Iranian oil exports.
o Iran may soon face crude oil storage
shortages.
·
Data
from maritime analytics firm Kpler indicates:
o Storage facilities at Kharg Island, Iran’s
main oil export terminal, are over 80% full.
·
Experts
fear Iran’s actions could inspire similar toll debates elsewhere.
·
One
example cited is the:
o Strait of Malacca
·
An
Indonesian minister recently suggested possible tolls for ships transiting the
strait, though:
o The proposal was quickly rejected by
officials in both Indonesia and Malaysia.
·
Maritime
analysts warn that undermining freedom of navigation at one chokepoint could
destabilize global shipping norms more broadly.
[ABS News Service/23.05.2026]
Tehran
is trying to formalize — and monetize — its control over the Strait of Hormuz, previously
a transit point for one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas, by charging a fee for
passage.
What
Iran is proposing violates the rules on which international shipping is based, which
hold that countries cannot charge for safe passage through international waterways,
and is unlikely to succeed, analysts say. Still, it is unsettling the shipping industry,
heaping more uncertainty on companies with vessels and workers who have been stranded
in the Persian Gulf for nearly three months as the war in Iran drag on.
The
concern is that Iran, emboldened by having brought the United States to an impasse
by invoking a powerful geographic choke point, could find a way to influence traffic
through the strait even after the conflict ceases. The Iranian threats underline
the war’s potential to do lasting damage to the global economy.
A
toll payment system would not be acceptable, Arsenio Dominguez, the head of the
International Maritime Organization, said in an interview on Friday. He spoke after
it emerged this week that Iran and Oman, a U.S. ally that borders the strait, were
in discussions about a system to charge fees for passage through the strait.
“I’m not entertaining conversations relating to
mandatory tolls, things that go beyond the freedom of navigation, the right of innocent
passage,” said Mr. Dominguez, whose organization, a United Nations agency, regulates
global shipping.
Michelle
Wiese Bockmann, an analyst at the maritime intelligence firm Windward, said she
believed Iran’s plans were posturing in its prolonged standoff with President Trump.
But
the stakes are high. According to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development,
11 billion tons a year of global trade is transported by sea.
“If
you remove that principle of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, then
where do you draw the line?” Ms. Bockmann said. “That then opens up other choke
points to negotiations in times where there are contested waters.”
Iran
has cast its proposal as charges for service, a transit fee or environmental charges.
Under international law and conventions, countries that oversee certain artificial
waterways, including the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal, may charge fees, while
straits used for international navigation must be free.
In
addition to the legal issues, a major reason for the unworkability of Iran’s plans
comes down to insurance, Ms. Bockmann said. Ships that make payments to Iran could
be violating sanctions by the United States and other Western countries, and insurers
will therefore be hesitant to provide them coverage.
The
U.S. Treasury Department has issued warnings as recently as this month to ship operators
not to make payments to Iran, and many European governments have their own sanctions
on Iran. No Western company has publicly stated that it has made any payments to
Iran. As desperate as they are to free their vessels unable to leave the Persian
Gulf, most shippers are unwilling to engage in such transactions, industry officials
say.
Mr.
Trump said Thursday that the United States would not condone any toll system on
passage through the strait. “We want it free,” he said in the Oval Office. “We don’t
want tolls. It’s international. It’s an international waterway.”
Still,
Iran announced new steps this past week to consolidate control over the waterway.
On
Monday, Iran launched a regulatory agency it called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority
to run operations in the strait, including overseeing a charge, which could reach
as high as $2 million per vessel. And last Saturday, Iran introduced a plan, called
Hormuz Safe, that would allow shipping companies to pay the government for insurance
coverage, using cryptocurrency, while transiting the strait.
The
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy has said that the only safe route for transit
in the strait is via a corridor designated by Iran, and that any ships that deviate
from this path risk attack.
India,
Iraq, Pakistan and other countries have negotiated arrangements with Iran to get
their ships through. But the primary entities paying fees to the Persian Gulf Strait
Authority include owners of so-called shadow fleet vessels linked to China and the
United Arab Emirates, according to Windward.
On
Wednesday, Iran said it was significantly expanding the area it claims to control
to waters around the Strait of Hormuz, including part of the Gulf of Oman, which
is adjacent to the strait.
After
U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran in late February, Iran brought traffic in
the strait to a near halt, causing energy prices to skyrocket. About 1,500 ships
and 20,000 seafarers remained stranded in the Persian Gulf, and traffic through
the strait has dwindled to a trickle. Before the closure, upward of 130 ships went
through the strait daily.
Oscar
Seikaly, chief executive of NSI Insurance Group, an insurance broker, said Iran’s
attempts to exert control over the waterway would not be effective. A U.S. blockade
is policing waters beyond the strait to hunt down Iranian vessels, leaving Iran
unable to export its own oil as it tries to establish a counternarrative that it
has control.
“They
don’t control anything,” he said.
As
of Thursday, the U.S. Central Command had redirected 94 commercial vessels and disabled
four. Because of Iran’s inability to export its crude oil, Iran is expected to soon
run out of storage space for the oil it produces. Its storage facilities at Kharg
Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal, are more than 80 percent full, according
to Kpler, a maritime data firm.
A
risk of Iran’s threats to take control of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz
is that other countries may start considering what leverage they could exert over
the international straits they border.
One
such area is the Strait of Malacca, a critical waterway bordered by Indonesia and
Malaysia in Southeast Asia. Last month, Indonesia’s finance minister made a brief
public comment about imposing tolls at the strait, which vessels currently transit
free of charge, in line with international law.
The
remark touched a nerve. The idea of starting to charge tolls at the Strait of Malacca
was quickly shot down — by the foreign minister of Malaysia as well as another Indonesian
official.