Iran wants ships to pay for services when crossing the Strait of Hormuz

Iran is trying to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a paid transit system after the ceasefire tied to Trump reopened the waterway.

Tehran wants ships to pay for security, safety, and environmental services while crossing the oil route, with officials putting the possible yearly income at about $40 billion for the countries involved, according to the Wall Street Journal.

As you know, Hormuz is considered one of the world’s top energy lanes and, therefore, any payment mechanism would affect oil traders, tanker owners, insurance companies, crypto, and stock markets.

Iran asks Gulf states and China to share money from Hormuz transit services

In addition to this, Iran expects that neighboring states of the Persian Gulf region would be part of this system and share revenues derived from passing ships through the straits.

Another case where the proposal has been mentioned is China and Egypt. This indicates the extent to which Tehran wishes to expand this debate.

Some other waterways have been studied by the Iranian officials for comparison purposes. The one that is being referred to here is the Dardanelles, where Turkey collects money from ships through a payment system based on the gold franc system.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator, pushed the message during a Tuesday visit to Oman, the country sitting across the water from Iran. Mohammad said, “Everyone needs to know that management of the strait will never return to the way it was before.”

The ceasefire deal runs for 60 days. It ended the fighting and reopened the strait. During that period, ships are supposed to move through without transit fees. The same agreement also puts Iran in charge of clearing mines from the waterway.

The catch is that the document gives Iran a seat in future talks on how the chokepoint will be managed. Tehran does not recognize the maritime law framework that applies to the strait, which makes the next phase messy before anyone even gets to the money part.

Iranian officials have also said privately that the United States could join any payment setup later. Trump has raised similar ideas in public before, though there is no settled deal for that now.

U.S. and Oman reject Hormuz charges as Iran tests approved shipping routes

Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, rejected the fee idea during his Middle East trip this week. Speaking in Bahrain on Thursday, Marco said the plan would create a dangerous example for other waterways and could spread fast.

He said, “The reality is that no country on earth has the right to charge for the use of international waterways, and that will never be an acceptable condition of any deal.”

Marco also said Persian Gulf countries had already rejected charges for crossing the strait.

Trump posted on Wednesday that Iran was not collecting money from ships using Hormuz. He wrote, “There are no tolls, no insurance costs & no other charges of any kind being sought or received by Iran on ships traveling the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump did not say whether he would bargain over a later payment plan.

Oman is also standing against tolls. Oman recognizes the international convention that bans charges on maritime highways. Its foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, told Marco in Bahrain that any future Hormuz setup would not include transit fees.

Iran and Oman also stated that they have discussed the issues of future management services in the strait as well as the expenses associated with them.

Oman has also launched a temporary tanker corridor this week; this will operate in close proximity to the Omani shore and is toll-free and organized by the International Maritime Organization.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to senior U.S. officials. This attack took place in close proximity to the shores of Oman, only several hours after the Iranian paramilitary navy warned the ships to avoid using unauthorized routes.

U.K. Maritime Trade Operations said the ship’s bridge was damaged, but no casualties were reported.

Iran has already created an insurance firm that it says shippers must use before crossing the Strait. Iranian state media said on Thursday that ships moving outside Tehran’s approved corridors were entering highly dangerous and banned routes.

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