- Iranian envoy says ships transiting Hormuz will be charged service fees.
- Adds Tehran working with Oman on new Hormuz arrangements.
- Hormuz Charges to Support Security and Vessel Surveillance: Fazli.
Iran’s ambassador to China insisted on Saturday that new fees would be levied on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz – an idea rejected by Washington – while assuring that “friendly” nations would receive special treatment.
The first agreement reached between Iran and the US to end their war stipulated that commercial ships would sail across the strait for free for 60 days, but it remains unclear what will be in place after that period.
Iran’s ambassador Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told the World Peace Forum in Beijing that his country was working in “cooperation and cooperation” with Oman on “new arrangements” for the vital waterway.
“As a country where Hormuz is part of its territorial waters, we will definitely charge service fees,” Azli said in translated remarks, while insisting that such fees would not be a “toll.”
“These new arrangements will be about guaranteeing the safety of passage through the Strait of Hormuz, monitoring the passage of the ships… and also guaranteeing and dealing with the environmental consequences of the huge number of ships,” he said.
“We will definitely consider special treatment for those countries that were kind to us and that especially stood by us during the hard times,” he added.
The strait normally transports a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas, but it was nearly closed by Iran during the Middle East war, sending energy prices soaring.
Iran lifted its blockade of Hormuz after it struck an initial deal with the United States to end the war in the Middle East, and talks on a permanent solution to the conflict are underway.
