Report: Iran, Oman Weigh Shipping Tolls in Strait of Hormuz

Iran is floating a permanent toll system for one of the world's most crucial chokepoints—and talking it over with a US ally. Tehran has been in discussions with Oman about setting up a system to collect fees from ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian officials. The New York Times, citing Iranian sources, says the two countries are framing it as charging for "services," not a transit toll—a key legal distinction, since outright tolls on international straits are widely considered illegal under maritime law. About 20% of global seaborne oil and gas flows through the waterway, which Iran choked off after US and Israeli strikes began in February, sending energy prices higher and underscoring its leverage.

The two countries "must mobilize all their resources both to provide security services and to manage navigation in the most appropriate manner," Mohammad Amin-Nejad, Iran's ambassador to France, tells Bloomberg. According to the Times' sources, Oman initially rejected the partnership plan but the country is now discussing its share of the revenues and has told Iran it is willing to try to sell the plan to its Gulf neighbors and the US.

• On Thursday, Iran's newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority published a map of the area it claims to control, which includes part of the coastal waters of Oman and the UAE, the Telegraph reports. "Transit in this zone for passage through the Strait of Hormuz requires co-ordination with the Persian Gulf Strait Authority and permission from this entity," the authority said.

The Trump administration is publicly rejecting any payment scheme. "We want it free," President Trump said. "We don't want tolls. It's international." Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that a fee system "can't happen" and would make a peace deal "unfeasible." Legal experts say limited, clearly linked service charges can be lawful—but if Iran's system looks like a toll in disguise, it likely won't pass muster. James Kraska, a professor of international maritime law at the US Naval War College, tells the Times that the ban on payment for passage through international straits is "virtually universally accepted" and Iran charging ships a fee would be "almost like the mafia saying you have to pay protection money."