The Media Line: Iran Announces Hormuz Service Fees Despite President Trump’s Warning  

Iran Announces Hormuz Service Fees Despite President Trump’s Warning  

By The Media Line Staff  

Iran announced plans to charge service fees for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a move that contrasts with President Donald Trump’s statement that negotiations would end if Tehran sought to impose charges for passage through the strategic waterway.  

Speaking Saturday at the World Peace Forum in Beijing, Ambassador Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said Iran was working in “collaboration and cooperation” with Oman on “new arrangements” governing the Strait of Hormuz. He said “special considerations” would be extended to “friendly countries” seeking to send ships through the strait.  

Fazli said Iran would impose service fees because the waterway passes through its territorial waters, while rejecting the characterization that the charges would constitute a toll.  

“As a country where the Hormuz is part of its territorial waters, we will definitely charge service fees,” Fazli said.  

“These new arrangements will be concerning guaranteeing the security of passage through the Straits of Hormuz, supervision of the passage of the vessels … and also guaranteeing and dealing with the environmental consequences of the massive number of ships,” he said, according to AFP.  

President Trump has said that any attempt by Iran to charge vessels for passage through the Strait of Hormuz would halt negotiations over the memorandum of understanding (MoU) intended to end the conflict.  

Last month, he wrote on Truth Social that Iran had assured the United States it would not impose charges on commercial shipping.  

“Iran has informed the US that, despite troublemaking Fake News reporting to the contrary, there ⁠are ‘NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY ⁠IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ,” President Trump wrote.  

The initial MoU signed by Iran and the United States provided that commercial vessels would pass through the Strait of Hormuz free of charge for 60 days. The agreement did not specify what policy would apply after the two-month period.  

During peacetime, about 20% of the world’s oil and gas supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping through the waterway was disrupted during the conflict involving the United States, Iran, and Israel, contributing to a sharp rise in oil prices.  

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