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Iran has begun collecting revenue from tolls imposed on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior parliamentary official said on Thursday, in a move that raises questions over the legality and enforceability of such charges in one of the world’s most critical energy corridors.
“The first revenue received from the Strait of Hormuz tolls was deposited into the Central Bank account,” deputy speaker of parliament Hamidreza Hajibabaei said, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, has become a key flashpoint since the Iran war started on February 28. Iran shut down the strait after US and Israeli strikes and has since pushed for the right to charge tolls on ships as a condition for ending the conflict.
It has allowed only limited shipping through the waterway.
Crucial strait
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, linking the Arabian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the open ocean.
In peacetime, roughly a fifth of global oil consumption, along with significant volumes of liquefied natural gas, passes through the strait, supplying key markets in Asia, Europe and beyond.
Major producers including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait rely on the route to export energy, while Iran borders its northern shore, giving it strategic influence over traffic.
Part of the strait flows through Oman's territorial waters, but this area is still within easy striking distance for Iranian forces.
Aimen Dean, a former MI6 operative who now conducts in-depth terror financing research, told The National that what Tehran wants “above everything else, is for the US to concede that the Iranian regime has a security oversight jurisdiction over the entire strait”.
“Now, this is completely unacceptable, because it's not the US remit to determine or to give this privilege to the Iranian regime whatsoever. It's an international body of water,” he added.
The US, along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain, have categorically rejected the demand and refuse to treat it as a viable negotiating position, Mr Dean said.
“These four [Gulf] countries are absolutely refusing this, not even to countenance this, not even to consider it as a serious negotiating position,” he said.
“The US is facing this extremely difficult situation with the Iranian negotiators who are saying, we are not budging on this. This is a directive coming from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and therefore we will not abandon this demand.”
The dispute over Hormuz is emerging as one of the central obstacles in broader negotiations, alongside disagreements over Hezbollah’s role in Lebanon and the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.
What laws govern navigation through the strait?
Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which grants all ships and aircraft an unrestricted right of “transit passage”.
According to UNCLOS, “transit passage” through international straits cannot be blocked or denied by bordering nations Iran and Oman.
Vessels must move “continuously and expeditiously” and refrain from threatening the sovereignty of coastal states.
UNCLOS says countries next to a strait can control waters up to 12 nautical miles from their coast, known as their territorial sea, but they must still allow what is called “innocent passage”.
This means ships can pass through as long as they don’t threaten the country’s peace, security, or order.
About 171 countries, along with the European Union, have signed the treaty, but Iran and the US have not ratified it.
Can Iran charge tolls?
Under UNCLOS, Iran cannot charge tolls or fees for transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Article 26 of the treaty explicitly prohibits bordering states from levying charges on foreign ships merely for passing through a strait used for international navigation.
If a country attempts to restrict passage or impose unlawful fees, affected states can raise the issue at the UN Security Council, arguing that such actions threaten international peace and security, particularly given the strait’s role as a critical global energy route.
