Can Iran charge fees for ships to transit Strait of Hormuz?

Iran wants to charge fees for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as part of its proposals to end the war with Israel and the United States after blocking most traffic through the crucial energy waterway for weeks. The Strait, a strip of water only 34 km wide between Iran and Oman, provides passage from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods including fertilizers. What is Iran proposing? Iran wants any permanent peace deal in the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on its leadership on February 28 to allow Tehran to demand fees for ships passing through the strait, a senior Iranian official has told Reuters. The fee would vary depending on the type of ship, its cargo and unspecified other prevailing conditions, the official said, without elaborating. Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabdi said last week that Tehran was drafting a protocol with Oman to require ships to obtain permits and licences to pass the Strait, saying this was intended to facilitate rather than restrict transit. Oman sai

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