The Strait of Hormuz as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the Omani border with Musandam, in March. [Reuters]
The Strait of Hormuz as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the Omani border with Musandam, in March. [Reuters]

Iran has resumed charging vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, billing $1.5 million to $2 million per ship under the label of "service fees," after briefly suspending the practice amid a US counter-blockade and truce.

Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported Sunday that Mohsen Zanganeh, a lawmaker on the Iranian parliament's budget and accounts committee, said Iran had "begun full implementation of its plan to collect service fees from vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz." The Iranian parliament had earlier announced it was developing a 12-point plan for managing the strait, formalizing the charges as "service fees" rather than tolls.

Fars reported that a dedicated body has been established to carry out the plan in cooperation with Iran's Ministry of Economy and Finance, under the supervision of the Supreme National Security Council. Funds collected from vessels will be deposited into the Iranian treasury and used for designated purposes, the agency said. It added that a portion of payments may be made in Tether (USDT), a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, or in commodities and barter.

Before the US counter-blockade, Iran had collected transit fees in yuan or cryptocurrency from vessels seeking to pass through the strait, and had also sought to legislate collection in Iranian rials.

Meanwhile, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that Ahmad Reza Rahijanzadeh, deputy director general for maritime affairs and wetlands at the Ministry of Environment, said the ministry had begun drafting regulations to collect fees from vessels in the strait under the pretext of providing environmental services. Rahijanzadeh said the fees were intended to systematize maritime services and establish a legal and environmental framework governing vessel transit through the strait.

With Iran-US negotiations over an end to the war stuck in deadlock, attention is turning to how Iran's moves to reassert control over the strait may affect the talks.


kate01@heraldcorp.com