Iran says it will detain ships until 20% Hormuz fee is paid
The fine follows a parliamentary committee proposal on Hormuz transit breaches, the state news agency Fars reports.
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Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Iran will detain ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz until they pay a fine equal to 20% of a transit fee, the state news agency Fars reports. The fine follows a proposal from a parliamentary committee for penalties on transit breaches through the strait.
The threat comes after actual confrontation in the waterway. Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said it already struck vessels in the strait. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi says Tehran has hardened its terms since a US deal collapsed, and is conditioning any settlement on lifting the US military blockade along with other significant concessions.
Diplomacy is still moving in parallel. Arab mediators are pushing for a meeting between the US and Iran at the United Nations, where Iran's president is already present, though no meeting has been scheduled. Trump has said a deal with Iran will happen "one way or the other," and separately predicted an agreement after the election while saying oil is flowing at peak levels.
The detention threat sits awkwardly against that diplomatic push. Gulf states and European officials have been urging de-escalation with Washington, and holding ships over a transit fee raises the odds of an accidental clash in a strait that is already tense, cutting against the case those governments have been making.