War in the Middle East: Iranian MPs propose charging for passage through the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian MPs are proposing the establishment of paid passage fees for ships in the Strait of Hormuz, at the heart of the war in the Middle East, Iranian media reported on Thursday.

“In Parliament, we are working on a plan according to which countries will have to pay duties and taxes to the Islamic Republic if the Strait of Hormuz is used as a safe route” for energy and goods transport, declared Tehran MP Somayeh Rafiei, cited by the official Isna agency.

Traffic will never return to its “pre-war status”

On Tuesday, the Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, for his part affirmed that traffic in this narrow commercial route, where 20% of the world’s crude oil and nearly 20% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) pass, would never return to its “pre-war status”.

In recent days, Iran has allowed the passage of some ships from countries it considers allies, while warning that it would block those from countries deemed hostile.

A crisis meeting of the World Maritime Organization (IMO) is taking place over two days on Wednesday and Thursday in London, with the stated objective of finding “practical measures” to ensure security in the Strait of Hormuz, where 20,000 sailors are currently stranded on some 3,200 ships.

The IMO is preparing to request, barring surprises, a secure maritime corridor to evacuate boats blocked in the Gulf by the war in the Middle East, on the second day of a crisis summit in London.

This proposal was welcomed by the United States, whose President Donald Trump has repeatedly asked NATO countries and China to send military assets to escort the ships.

A strategic passage for the transport of hydrocarbons, this strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Iran, has been largely blocked by Iran since the start of the war launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel.