Iran to collect fees under new Hormuz traffic system, says only friendly ships will benefit

Public Lokpal
May 16, 2026

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Iran to collect fees under new Hormuz traffic system, says only friendly ships will benefit

New Delhi: Iran has prepared a mechanism to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz along a designated route that will be unveiled soon, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, Ebrahim Azizi, said on Saturday.

Azizi added that only commercial vessels and parties cooperating with Iran would benefit from the arrangement. He said fees would be collected for specialised services provided under the mechanism.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had slammed Tehran for levying a tax on commercial vehicles passing through the strait. He had also warned shipping companies of sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the waterway.

Iran has largely shut the Strait of Hormuz to ships apart from its own since the United States and Israel launched their bombing campaign two-and-a-half months ago, causing the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies. The US paused the bombing last month but added a blockade of Iran's ports.

The narrow waterway, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes, has been one of the major holdups in peace negotiations with both Washington and Tehran vying for control over it.

During the US-China summit in Beijing, President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping both agreed that Iran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz and never possess nuclear weapons. However, China's foreign ministry noted, "The conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue."

Reuters