The de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran in response to the United States-Israel war has caused one of the worst energy crises in decades with experts warning of a looming global recession.<\/p>\n
The maritime route, through which about 20 percent of global oil and gas supplies pass, has been thrust into the spotlight as Tehran has used it as a geopolitical bargaining chip in the war.<\/p>\n
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Nearly 2,000 vessels are stranded close to the narrow strait, which is located between Iran on its north side and Oman and the United Arab Emirates on its south side.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Iranian media reported that the country\u2019s parliament is seeking to pass legislation to collect tolls for ships transiting the world\u2019s single most important oil passageway.<\/p>\n
The reports by the Tasnim and Fars news agencies, quoting the chairman of parliament\u2019s Civil Affairs Committee, said a draft law has been prepared and will soon be finalised by the Islamic Consultative Assembly\u2019s legal team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to this plan, Iran must collect fees to ensure the security of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d an official was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is completely natural. Just as in other corridors, when goods pass through a country, duties are paid. The Strait of Hormuz is also a corridor. We ensure its security, and it is natural for ships and tankers to pay us duties,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
But even without that domestic legal framework, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has already imposed a \u201ctoll booth\u201d system to control vessel traffic through the strait, the shipping journal Lloyd\u2019s List reported<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n So what is the toll booth system? How does it work? Is it legal?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know:<\/p>\n Why has Iran made the decision to impose tolls?<\/p>\n Iran, whose territorial waters extend into the strait, has blocked the passage of vessels carrying oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf to the rest of the world since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28.<\/p>\n The move has sent global oil prices soaring above $100 per barrel \u2013 a jump of roughly 40 percent from before the war \u2013 forcing countries, particularly in Asia, to ration fuel and cut industrial production. Impacted countries have been lobbying Iran to allow vessels to pass through the strait, which is the only route through which to export oil and gas from most of the Gulf producers.<\/p>\n Iran has demanded international recognition of its right to exercise authority over the Strait of Hormuz as one of its five conditions for ending the war.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi told<\/a> the United Kingdom-based, Farsi-language satellite TV channel Iran International that the country has been charging some vessels $2m to pass through the strait.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, because war has costs, naturally, we must do this and take transit fees from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n How many ships are waiting to pass through the strait?<\/p>\n International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told Al Jazeera that nearly 2,000 ships are waiting on both sides of the strait to sail through it.<\/p>\n Maritime intelligence service Windward said this build-up suggests that \u201cmany operators have chosen to hold position outside Hormuz rather than commit immediately to long-haul rerouting.\u201d<\/p>\n Only 16 crossings by ships with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched on were observed in the Strait of Hormuz in the week from March 15 to Sunday. Windward separately confirmed that four cargo vessels crossed or were crossing the strait overnight on March 13 and into the early morning, including one Pakistani vessel.<\/p>\n Windward also observed the presence of eight \u201cdark ships\u201d exceeding 290 metres (950ft) long and operating in the strait with their AIS switched off.<\/p>\n Dark ships included a US-sanctioned ship observed near the UAE\u2019s Khor Fakkan port, an important hub for oil tankers, on March 16 before turning off its AIS.<\/p>\n What is the process to collect tolls?<\/p>\n While the Iranian parliament is yet to pass the legislation to impose tolls, in the past two weeks, \u201c26 vessel transits through the strait have followed a route pre-approved under the IRGC \u2018toll booth\u2019 system that requires the ship operators to submit to a vetting scheme,\u201d Lloyd\u2019s List reported on Wednesday. These ships did not have their AIS switched on.<\/p>\n Sources familiar with the new system have told<\/a> Lloyd\u2019s List that to pass through the strait, vessel operators have to first reach out to intermediaries connected to the IRGC and submit all details of the vessel. This includes documentation, its International Maritime Organization number, the cargo being transported, the names of all members of the crew and the vessel\u2019s final destination.<\/p>\n The intermediaries then submit the information to the IRGC\u2019s naval command, which vets the information. If the vessel passes the screening, then the IRGC issues a clearance code and instructions on the route the vessel has to take to pass through the strait.<\/p>\n Once the ship is in the strait, IRGC commanders yell out over VHF radio, asking for the vessel\u2019s clearance code. The ship answers, and if approved, a boat from Iran arrives to escort the vessel through the country\u2019s territorial waters around Larak Island.<\/p>\n If ships don\u2019t clear the IRGC navy\u2019s screening test, they are not allowed to pass through the waterway.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the IRGC navy, said<\/a> in a post on X that a container ship named Selen had been turned back due to \u201cfailure to comply with legal protocols and lack of permission\u201d to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n \u201cThe passage of any vessel through this waterway requires full coordination with Iran\u2019s maritime authority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Israel on Thursday said<\/a> it killed Tangsiri along with other \u201csenior officers of the naval command\u201d in an air strike on Wednesday night. Iran has yet to comment on it.<\/p>\n Who pays the tolls?<\/p>\n Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all except the US and its allies.<\/p>\n In a letter sent to the 176 members of the International Maritime Organization on Tuesday, Iran said: \u201cNon-hostile vessels, including those belonging to or associated with other States, may \u2013 provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and \u200cfully \u2060comply with the declared safety and security regulations \u2013 benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the competent Iranian authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, after talks with what Iran called \u201cfriendly\u201d nations, some ships from Malaysia, China, Egypt, South Korea and India have been allowed to pass through the strait.<\/p>\n According to Lloyd\u2019s, at least two vessels that have transited the strait so far have paid a fee in yuan, China\u2019s currency. Lloyd\u2019s List said on Monday that one \u201ctransit was brokered by a Chinese maritime services company acting as an intermediary, which also handled the payment to Iranian authorities\u201d. It is, however, not clear how much the vessels paid.<\/p>\n But according to the Indian government, no payments have been made by New Delhi to Iran to secure the safe passage of Indian vessels through the strait.<\/p>\n \u201cNo permission is required to sail through the strait. \u2026 There is freedom for navigation through the strait. Since the strait is narrow, only the entry and exit lanes are demarked, which need to be followed by shipping lines. \u2026 It is the decision of the charterer and shipping company when to sail or when not to sail,\u201d Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the Indian Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said on Tuesday, according to Indian media reports.<\/p>\n The ministry added that two ships carrying more than 92,600 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas, had transited and are scheduled to reach the subcontinent between Thursday and Saturday.<\/p>\n Apurva Mehta, a partner at the Indian law firm ANB Legal, told Al Jazeera that permitting certain friendly nations to transit the Strait of Hormuz would be discriminatory.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is currently not clear which vessels would have to pay toll in the coming days and the currency in which such payments will be made,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, it would appear that commercial considerations would overpower legitimacy of such \u2018tolls\u2019 and nations would be keen on clearing their consignments, even if it would subject them to payment of \u2018tolls\u2019,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Is charging tolls on vessels passing through the strait legal?<\/p>\n