The Malta-flagged tanker Agios Fanourios I, an oil tanker that sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, arrives in Iraq\u2019s territorial waters off Basra,Iraq April 17, 2026. REUTERS\/Mohammed Aty<\/p>\n
Inside Iran\u2019s Expanding Hormuz Transit System: Checkpoints, Diplomatic Deals and Passage Fees<\/p>\n
DUBAI, May 20 (Reuters)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The tanker crew gathered their courage and carefully navigated along a route designated by\u00a0Iran, hugging the coastline and maneuvering their hulking vessel between island checkpoints through the<\/p>\n
, laden with Iraqi crude oil and bound for Vietnam, had been bottled up off the coast of Dubai since late April. But on May 10 it set off for the strait after a direct deal with\u00a0Iran\u00a0overseen by Iraq\u2019s prime minister.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s orders to the tanker were part of a complex, multi-tiered mechanism that the country has deployed for clearing vessels\u00a0through the Strait of Hormuz. With\u00a0Iran\u00a0now in de facto control of the strait, the system can involve\u00a0government-to-government arrangements, intense vetting by the\u00a0Iranian government and sometimes fees in exchange for safe passage, Reuters has found.<\/p>\n
In Vietnam, Iraq, Greece and beyond, the ship\u2019s progress was monitored closely, including by two people interviewed by Reuters. Periodically, the transponder went dark but the<\/p>\n
sailed on. Not far away that same day, another ship was hit with a projectile, causing a small fire, according to a British maritime safety agency.<\/p>\n
Late on May 10, screens lit up with the icon for the<\/p>\n
. But as the tanker passed Hormuz Island, it was stopped by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps speedboats, according to an\u00a0Iranian official.<\/p>\n
The IRGC fighters patrolling the strait, who had initially let the vessel through, now ordered the ship to halt. The\u00a0Iranian official said there was a suspicion of smuggled cargo and they wanted to inspect the ship.<\/p>\n
Iraq-Bound Tanker Sails Into Gulf After Second Attempt at Hormuz<\/p>\n
Several hours later, the vessel received\u00a0Iranian authorisation to continue, turning what is typically a five-hour transit through the strait into a two-day ordeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we were informed<\/p>\n
passed Hormuz, we breathed a sigh of relief,\u201d said one of the people monitoring the journey.<\/p>\n
No payments were made, said the ship\u2019s manager, Eastern Mediterranean Shipping and six people with knowledge of the passage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have reasons to believe that\u00a0Iranians turned a blind eye to the transit of<\/p>\n
, following pressure from Iraq and Vietnam,\u201d Konstantinos Sakellaridis, operations manager for Eastern Mediterranean Shipping, wrote in a response to questions from Reuters.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s government did not respond to a request for comment about the new mechanism or the journey of the<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for about a fifth of the global oil supply, has thrown the world economy into turmoil. To reveal how\u00a0Iran\u00a0has been\u00a0consolidating control\u00a0over this strategic chokepoint in recent weeks, Reuters interviewed 20 people with knowledge of the evolving mechanism, including Asian and European shipping sources and\u00a0Iranian and Iraqi officials, reviewed\u00a0Iranian documents related to the vetting process, and analyzed movements of ships. Taken together, they offer rare insight into how the\u00a0Iranian scheme functions, with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u00a0playing a central role.<\/p>\n
All the sources asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject. Some of the details of the journey of the<\/p>\n
could not be independently verified, but they corresponded with accounts from multiple other maritime officials involved in managing and navigating the same route for both cargo ships and tankers.<\/p>\n
SECURITY AND NAVIGATION FEES<\/p>\n
By early May, around 1,500 vessels with about 22,500 sailors aboard were\u00a0trapped in the Gulf, according to the U.S. military. That maritime bottleneck stems from\u00a0Iran\u2019s ability to strike ships in the strait from along the coast. Its grip has transformed the conflict into what the\u00a0head of the International Energy Agency\u00a0described as the world\u2019s worst ever energy crisis. The U.S. Navy has responded by\u00a0imposing its own blockade\u00a0of\u00a0Iranian ships and cargo with a cordon outside the strait.<\/p>\n
Only a trickle of vessels have passed through the waterway. Between April 18 and May 6, fewer than 60 ships made it through, according to unpublished analysis by U.S. firm SynMax Intelligence. Before the war, some 120 to 140 ships traversed the strait on a typical day, about half of them oil tankers.<\/p>\n
American citizens are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the\u00a0Iranian government under U.S. sanctions laws. Non-Americans may also face \u201csecondary sanctions\u201d for dealing with\u00a0Iranian entities. In addition, many Western governments maintain their own sanctions and restrictions relating to\u00a0Iran.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Treasury Department<\/p>\n
issued a\u00a0statement on May 1<\/p>\n
warning \u201cabout the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the\u00a0Iranian regime for safe passage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new\u00a0Iranian mechanism includes a tiered system giving preference to ships linked to its allies Russia and China, followed by countries such as India and Pakistan with close ties to Tehran, and then government-to-government agreements that let vessels like the<\/p>\n
\u201cThe department is prepared to take action against any foreign company supporting illicit\u00a0Iranian commerce,\u201d the U.S. Treasury Department said in response to questions from Reuters about the system.<\/p>\n
Reuters could not independently determine how many vessels have used the scheme so far.\u00a0Iran\u00a0has said ships linked to the United States or Israel, which launched aerial attacks on\u00a0Iran\u00a0in late February, may not cross the strait.<\/p>\n
Two European shipping sources said some vessels that aren\u2019t covered by government-to-government deals are paying\u00a0Iranian authorities upwards of $150,000 to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Ships are sometimes charged security and navigation fees, which vary according to cargo, two senior\u00a0Iranian officials told Reuters. Neither official provided specific figures, but one said \u201cnot all countries are subject to these charges.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reuters could not independently confirm the sums being levied on vessels or the total amount that has flowed into\u00a0Iranian coffers.<\/p>\n
Under\u00a0international maritime law, governments cannot charge for safe passage through a strait. But there can be fees associated with security or services as long as ships of all countries are treated equally.<\/p>\n
These payments and the names of ship owners who have paid\u00a0Iranian authorities to extract their vessels are closely guarded secrets, as such payments would violateU.S. economic sanctions\u00a0on\u00a0Iran\u2019s government. Reuters could not determine how the money was transferred or to which\u00a0Iranian entity.<\/p>\n
In addition to possible charges, violators would also lose their insurance coverage for making payments that could benefit the IRGC, because it is an internationally designated terrorist organization, according to two maritime insurance experts.<\/p>\n
Ship owners\u2019 willingness to deal directly with\u00a0Iran\u00a0despite the risks shows the degree to which the strait is under the Islamic Republic\u2019s control, said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence officer who specializes in\u00a0Iran\u00a0research and analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe straits will be blocked or opened up only by the approval of the\u00a0Iranian regime,\u201d said Citrinowicz, who is now at Israel\u2019s Institute for National Security Studies think tank. \u201cSome will get through because of political alliances, others will have to pay, others will be turned back. This is the new norm.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a response to the Reuters findings about\u00a0Iran\u2019s new control mechanism, China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for Hormuz to be opened and said it was concerned about \u201cfuture arrangements for the strait.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch arrangements should comply with international law and practice, and take into account the legitimate security concerns of coastal states and the legitimate demands of regional countries and the international community,\u201d the ministry\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n
Outside of government agreements, the process to secure\u00a0Iranian permission to transit involves a detailed vetting procedure conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,\u00a0Iran\u2019s elite fighting force, according to three\u00a0Iranian sources and a European shipping source. The IRGC reviews a so-called affiliation document supplied by a ship owner or operator and submitted through an intermediary, the sources said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe affiliation check is to identify if the vessel has any connection to the U.S. or Israel,\u201d said the European shipping source. It takes about a week for the Guards to review documentation, and during the process they may want to physically inspect the ship, the source said.<\/p>\n
The IRGC requires ship owners to disclose details including the value of the ship\u2019s cargo, the flag, its origin and destination, the registered owner and manager, and nationalities of the crew, according to documents reviewed by Reuters that were sent to shipping industry sources by\u00a0Iran\u2019s Persian Gulf Strait Authority. The authority was set up in recent weeks to approve and tax vessel transits.<\/p>\n
The vetting is carried out by\u00a0Iranian state institutions including the Ports and Maritime Organization, the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, the national shipping organization, and the security overseer of the Supreme National Security Council, according to the three senior\u00a0Iranian officials. The IRGC, which has broad oversight over\u00a0Iranian security, is also involved in evaluating the ships, the officials said.<\/p>\n
Bilateral arrangements for passage include an additional step: Countries contact\u00a0Iran\u2019s foreign minister to request permission. The minister forwards these to the Supreme National Security Council, which includes the IRGC and representatives of Supreme ?Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, one of the officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA decision is then made and communicated to the relevant bodies, including the IRGC,\u201d the official said. He added that the IRGC provides the coordinates and instructions needed for safe passage.<\/p>\n
, Iraq\u2019s government worked alongside its state owned oil marketer, SOMO, to hammer out a deal with\u00a0Iran\u00a0under the supervision of then-Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, according to two sources with knowledge of the arrangement.<\/p>\n
Three Iraqi oil ministry officials said they transmitted the manifest and crew information of the Agios Fanourios I to the\u00a0Iranians before passage.<\/p>\n
The Iraqi government did not respond to a request for comment about its arrangements with\u00a0Iranian authorities or specifics about the Agios Fanourios.<\/p>\n
Other countries have worked out different arrangements. Among them is India, which imports about 90% of its oil needs and about 50% of its gas, much of which passes through Hormuz.<\/p>\n
New Delhi uses its embassy in Tehran to liaise with\u00a0Iranian authorities, including the IRGC and the\u00a0Iranian navy, which vets ships India wants to sail out of the Gulf, according to an Indian shipping ministry official.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce everything is verified, the ship captain is given a route to follow, and the ship sails out of the area with guidance from the\u00a0Iran\u00a0navy. The captains are strictly told to follow the given route,\u201d the official said. Ships are told to turn off their location transponders and not use satellite communications, he added.<\/p>\n
After\u00a0Iran\u00a0grants permission, the Indian Navy directly contacts shipmasters of Indian-flagged vessels in the Gulf and gives them waypoints, said an Indian shipping industry source with direct knowledge of the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Indian navy also told us that if the\u00a0Iranians ask you to stop, then you should stop. If they ask you to move, you should move,\u201d the source said, \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been following those instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, 13 Indian-flagged vessels have cleared the Strait of Hormuz, while 13 remain stranded west of the waterway, India\u2019s Shipping Ministry said on May 14.<\/p>\n
India, Russia, Pakistan and Vietnam did not respond to requests for comment about\u00a0Iran\u2019s controls of the strait.<\/p>\n
For many vessels, the route out of the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz involves clearing multiple\u00a0Iranian waypoints, often staffed by armed personnel, according to two shipping industry sources and three\u00a0Iranians.<\/p>\n
The Agios Fanourios I steered past\u00a0Iranian military checkpoints at Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Larak. Reuters verified those coordinates from the ship\u2019s publicly available location data and multiple sources aware of similar journeys.<\/p>\n
When it neared Hormuz Island, by the mouth of the strait, the vessel was briefly stopped by the IRGC speedboats, according to the\u00a0Iranian official familiar with the incident that day. He said there was information about possible smuggled cargo on board.<\/p>\n
The information proved to be incorrect, he said, and after a brief period of confusion and an inspection of the ship, the<\/p>\n
continued its journey.<\/p>\n
Similarly chaotic communication was the likely cause for an attack on two Indian-flagged ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz last month, the Indian shipping industry source said. The incidents have frightened Indian sailors stuck in the Gulf.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese ships don\u2019t have armor or anything of that sort,\u201d said the Indian shipping source. \u201cThe bullets pierce through.\u201d The only targets for the shooters, he added, are the crew quarters: \u201cThey can\u2019t shoot at the tanks because these are carrying flammable liquids.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Indian sailor who made it through the Strait of Hormuz aboard a bulk carrier said the ship waited in the Gulf before his shipping company secured permission from the IRGC. It was then instructed to approach Larak Island and the\u00a0Iranian navy established contact. Naval officials ordered the captain to display the vessel\u2019s flag and divulge ship details, then began discussions with the shipping company. The\u00a0Iranians repeatedly asked about the crew\u2019s nationality, the sailor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a couple of hours, the captain received a route from the IRGC,\u201d he said. Escorted by smaller\u00a0Iranian navy boats, the ship was told to steer carefully for fear of sea mines. \u201cIt was a frightening sight,\u201d he said. \u201cEven in my wildest dreams, I cannot imagine going to sea again during a war.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even for vessels that make it through the Strait of Hormuz, the ordeal isn\u2019t necessarily over.<\/p>\n
A day after it exited\u00a0Iranian waters, the<\/p>\n
was snared in the\u00a0U.S. Navy\u2019s<\/p>\n
. For six days, the tanker drifted in a tight triangle as the American military ran through its paperwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cU.S. forces directed the Malta-flagged vessel to turn around as part of our enforcement of the ongoing blockade,\u201d said Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesperson at U.S. Central Command.<\/p>\n
Sakellaridis, the operations manager for Eastern Mediterranean Shipping, said Vietnam pressured the United States to let the ship pass. There was no reason for it to be stopped to begin with because, he added, the \u201cvessel and cargo had no\u00a0Iranian involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reuters could not determine how many other ships have been halted by the Americans since the blockade was put in place on April 13.<\/p>\n
released on May 16\u00a0without explanation<\/p>\n
. It is now bound for Vietnam, loaded with 2 million barrels of crude.<\/p>\n
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026<\/p>\n