The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for energy trade, remains at the center of the war between Iran and the United States, even as the two countries struggle to find a way to end the conflict. While the United States has repeatedly raised objections to Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed, Tehran has sought to formalize its oversight over the waterway.
Last week, Iran created an agency to oversee and approve which ships can pass through the Strait of Hormuz and charge them a fee, said Lloyd’s List, a shipping magazine.
He said Iran has formed the Persian Gulf Strait Authority which “has already introduced a new framework requiring ships to obtain transit authorization and pay tolls before setting sail.”
“Ships must submit detailed records of ownership, insurance, crew details and intended transit route,” Lloyd’s List added, citing a form sent by the authority.
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A Press TV report, backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said on Tuesday, May 5, that under the new system, “all ships intending to transit the Strait will receive an email from the official address info@PGSA.ir outlining the rules and regulations for passage.”
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This measure seeks to formalize Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States has continually opposed charging a toll to pass the waterway as it is an international body of water.
The developments over the new agency came as two sides clashed in the Strait of Hormuz last week, even as negotiations are underway.
On Thursday, May 7, Iran’s state media reported that the country’s armed forces engaged in an exchange of fire with the “enemy” island of Qeshm located in the Strait of Hormuz.
Key meeting in the Strait of Hormuz
The UK and France will host more than 40 countries on Monday to discuss a European-led plan to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The countries will discuss the forms and their contributions to the mission during the key meeting.
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The meeting will be chaired by the UK Defense Secretary, John Healey, together with his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin.
“We are turning the diplomatic agreement into practical military plans to restore confidence in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Healey said.
However, the idea of the meeting did not sit well with Iran, whose deputy foreign minister said any such action would be treated as an escalation of war.
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“Any deployment and stationing of extra-regional destroyers around the Strait of Hormuz, under the pretext of ‘protecting shipping,’ is nothing more than an escalation of the crisis, the militarization of a vital waterway and an attempt to cover up the true root of insecurity in the region,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote in a post on X.
Iran’s response is ‘completely unacceptable’
Meanwhile, negotiations between Iran and the United States do not seem to intensify, as US President Donald Trump flatly rejected Iran’s response to the US proposal to end the war.
“I just read the response from the so-called ‘representatives’ of Iran. I don’t like it, TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” Trump wrote in Truth Social.
Trump’s post came after Iran responded to the US proposal to end the war on Sunday and said it would not shy away from a military confrontation in the event of new attacks or more foreign warships being allowed in the Strait of Hormuz.
(With contributions from AFP, AP)
