An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS\/Benoit Tessier<\/p>\n
Iran and Oman Discuss Hormuz Toll Regime as Rubio Warns \u2018It Can\u2019t Happen\u2019<\/p>\n
By\u00a0Samy Adghirni, Flavia Krause-Jackson and Alan Katz (Bloomberg) \u2014 Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran and Oman must mobilize all their resources both to provide security services and to manage navigation in the most appropriate manner,\u201d the Iranian ambassador to France, Mohammad Amin-Nejad, said in an interview with Bloomberg in Paris on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will entail costs, and it goes without saying that those who wish to benefit from this traffic must also pay their share,\u201d he said in Farsi, through an interpreter, adding that the system will be transparent. \u201cAnd if today there is any desire for the situation to improve, a solution must be found to tackle the root of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oman\u2019s government didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
IMO Warns Hormuz Toll Would Set \u2018Dangerous Precedent\u2019<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s unprecedented closure of the strait is the biggest consequence of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic. Traffic has shriveled since the conflict erupted in late February, with Iran letting through few vessels and the US blockading Iranian ports. That\u2019s caused energy prices to soar and sparked a\u00a0global selloff of government bonds\u00a0as inflationary pressures mount.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable,\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday when asked about Iran\u2019s intentions. \u201cNo one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can\u2019t happen. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible. It\u2019s a threat to the world that they would try to do that, and it\u2019s completely illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Situated between Iran to its north and Oman to the south, the strait connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and normally handles a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, as well as other commodities such as aluminum and<\/p>\n
Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US agrees to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Amin-Nejad insisted that traffic hasn\u2019t been completely interrupted and Iran has claimed, without giving evidence, that<\/p>\n
and other ships transited between Tuesday and Wednesday with the help of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n
That would be an unusually high number for recent weeks, but still far below pre-war levels of roughly 135 ships a day.<\/p>\n
Amin-Nejad blamed exorbitant insurance costs for the decline, though shipping companies say the risk of missile and drone attacks, as well as hitting sea mines, is the main problem. Most say they won\u2019t send vessels through the strait until the war\u2019s over.<\/p>\n
Iran and the US agreed to a fragile ceasefire on April 8 and are exchanging messages via Pakistan about a peace deal. The warring sides still seem far apart and have both said in recent days they\u2019re prepared to resume hostilities.<\/p>\n
The Hormuz strait is a key sticking point, with Europe and Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia also saying Iran cannot have control over a chokepoint that has always been treated like international waters.<\/p>\n
Now, Iran has expanded its claimed area of jurisdiction and set out new rules for vessels seeking to transit the waterway, which is roughly 24 miles (39 kilometers) wide at the narrowest point. That involves seafarers dealing with a new body called the\u00a0Persian Gulf Strait Authority\u00a0and sometimes getting payment requests of as much as $2 million for safe passage.<\/p>\n
Iran says countries including China and South Korea have coordinated with the IRGC\u2019s navy to get their vessels through. Neither country has confirmed that and Iran hasn\u2019t said if they were charged.<\/p>\n
Tehran has signaled it will keep control over Hormuz even after the war, to deter future attacks from the US and Israel. It could also be a means of raising revenue for the war-ravaged economy.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump has gone from suggesting the US itself could start charging fees to telling Iran it \u201cbetter not be\u201d thinking of tolls. At one point, he even said there could be a US-Iran joint venture for the strait.<\/p>\n
The head of the United Arab Emirates\u2019 main oil company underscored the concerns of Iran\u2019s Arab neighbors when he said a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d was being set with Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you accept that a single country can hold the world\u2019s most important waterway hostage, freedom of navigation as we know it is finished,\u201d Sultan Al Jaber said on Wednesday. \u201cIf we do not defend this principle today, we will spend the next decade defending against the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amin-Nejad downplayed tensions with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The countries conducted separate, covert attacks against Iran before the ceasefire, Bloomberg reported. Those were in response to Iran firing thousands of drones and missiles at them and other states such as Qatar and Bahrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most painful or difficult moments for us were those when we had no choice but to attack military bases located on the soil of those countries, from which Iranian territory was being attacked,\u201d Amin-Nejad said, adding that \u201caccumulated misunderstandings\u201d could be easily solved once the war stops.<\/p>\n
Many of Iran\u2019s projectiles targeted civilian areas and non-military sites such as ports and oil refineries.<\/p>\n
The ambassador said the US underestimated Iran\u2019s resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir analysis was based on the belief that by putting pressure on the Iranian people, through sanctions and a sort of total embargo, they would be able to completely resolve the issue within three or four days,\u201d he said. \u201cThey imagined that Iran was a second Venezuela,\u201d a reference to the\u00a0capture\u00a0of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a02026\u00a0Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n