Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Esmail Baghaei said Tehran must charge for services provided in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a single report. The statement follows a series of earlier Iranian announcements about tolls and restrictions on the strategic waterway.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Esmail Baghaei said Tehran "must charge for the services provided in the Strait of Hormuz," according to a single report received at 18:33 Jerusalem time. The statement follows Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's remarks at 22:35 on June 12, in which he linked service fees to the release of frozen Iranian assets, and earlier clarifications that the fees would be for services, not taxes, under international law. Baghaei's latest remark reinforces the theme without adding new specifics.
Over the course of June 12 alone, The Zioneer reported eight successive updates from Araghchi — beginning at 22:35 with the announcement that the strait's management would not return to pre-war status and that a joint statement with Oman was imminent, and progressing through increasingly detailed plans for joint toll collection with Oman, a two-phase deal deferring nuclear talks, and the expected digital signing of a US-Iran memorandum within days. The thread shows an escalation from general declarations to operational framing.
As The Zioneer reported on June 7, Iran had already moved to an implementation phase, with fees of up to $2 million per vessel reportedly being collected via Tether, goods, or barter. On June 11, Baghaei himself warned the strait remained closed due to "illegal US actions." The US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, countered on June 11 by stating any tolls paid would be offset from Iranian accounts.
Baghaei's latest remark remains a single-source utterance. There is no independent confirmation that fee collection has expanded or that the operational status of the strait has changed.
10 developments
- StrongIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman: vessels to pay 'navigation, insurance, environmental' fees in Hormuz
- DevelopingIranian FM: Strait of Hormuz is not international waters, but a shared maritime route with Oman
- DevelopingBarak Betesh (i24NEWS) scrutinizes Trump’s claim on toll-free Hormuz, noting Iran switched to insurance fee instead
- StrongIran Demands Hormuz Revenue, Says Trump Post Contradicts Interim Deal
Source and signal
- Internal intake