Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said the fee for Strait of Hormuz passage is a matter of semantics — 'call it a fee, call it a commission, call it whatever you want' — but insisted no country may charge for international waterways. He said the issue will never be an acceptable condition in any agreement and that the president has been clear on the matter.
In remarks that mirror the precise language used hours earlier by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf called the controversy over the Strait of Hormuz toll a 'semantic game.' 'You can call it a fee, you can call it a commission, call it whatever you want — it's a game of semantics,' Ghalibaf said, according to an Iranian source. He then pivoted to argue that no state may charge for passage through international waterways and that the fee will never be a term in any deal, adding that the president has been 'completely clear' on the matter.
The statement appears to be a direct response to Rubio, who earlier today dismissed Iran's attempt to rebrand its toll as a 'semantic game' and reiterated that no country may charge for Hormuz passage. As The Zioneer first reported this morning, Rubio called the fee scheme inoperable, saying any vessel refusing to pay would be shot at.
Ghalibaf's comments walk a careful line: while adopting the same framing as the top US diplomat, he reaffirmed Iranian sovereignty in the strait and the position that the toll arrangement — which Iran says was part of a memorandum of understanding with the US — is not negotiable. The exchange underscores the core impasse as indirect talks continue: whether Iran's demand for payment in one of the world's most vital maritime chokepoints remains a non-starter for Washington.
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