Iran collecting fees for navigational services in Strait of Hormuz, not tolls

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran was collecting fees for "navigational services" on ships transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz, but is not imposing tolls.

"The services that are provided - navigational services in addition to the measures necessary to protect the environment of the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman - require the collection of certain fees," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.

He added that Iran was "not seeking to collect tolls."

Last week, Iran published a map claiming regulatory control over a stretch of the Strait of Hormuz that extends deep into the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates and Oman, prompting five Gulf states to formally warn shipping companies through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) not to comply.

In a post on X, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority defined its claimed management zone as running from Kuh-e Mobarak in Iran to the south of Fujairah in the UAE at the strait's eastern entrance, and from the end of Qeshm Island in Iran to Umm al-Quwain in the UAE at its western entrance.

The zone covers waters that the UAE and Oman regard as their own sovereign territory. All vessels transiting the defined area are required to obtain prior authorisation from the PGSA.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent a joint letter to the IMO, warning commercial and merchant vessels not to engage with the PGSA or transit the waterway using Iran's designated route. The letter was distributed by the IMO.

The US and Iran have been locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas trade passes in peacetime.

Iran effectively shuttered the crucial waterway in the early days of the war and in mid-April the US responded by imposing its own blockade on Iranian ports.

The closure has put pressure on the Trump administration, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, pressuring the US' Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas to the wider world.

Last Thursday, the European Commission cut its 2026 growth forecast for the European economy, as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East drives energy prices sharply higher.

The EU economy is now expected to grow by just 1.1% in 2026, down from the 1.4% projected in the Commission’s autumn forecast. The eurozone outlook was revised down further to 0.9%.