Iran’s Strait of Hormuz tactics face legal and practical hurdles to establishing a toll regime

Iran may be able to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but turning that disruption into a lasting toll regime is another matter entirely.

The renewed confrontation between Tehran, Washington and Jerusalem has once again placed the world’s most sensitive maritime chokepoint under strain. After reported attacks on vessels and fresh exchanges of strikes in the region, alarm has grown that Iran could try to convert its temporary leverage over shipping into a permanent...

revenue stream. The idea is straightforward enough: charge the roughly 130 ships that pass through the strait each day. The reality is far less accommodating.

As The Conversation argues, the first obstacle is legal. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Strait of Hormuz is an international strait, which means ships enjoy a right of transit passage that coastal states cannot simply suspend or tax at will. Although parts of the waterway run through Iranian territorial waters, the main traffic separation scheme is in Omani waters, underscoring how difficult it would be for any one state to monopolise the route. In effect, Iran would not be selling a service, as Egypt does with the Suez Canal or Panama does with its canal. It would be charging for the exercise of a right.

That distinction matters. The Strait of Hormuz is not a canal. It is far wider, with a narrow point of about 39 kilometres, and it is shared by multiple states. By contrast, the Suez and Panama canals are confined, artificial channels within a single jurisdiction, where authorities can tightly control access, board ships and enforce payment. According to the Strait Times, that difference lies at the heart of the legal and practical arguments against any Iranian toll.

There is also the question of enforcement. Even if Iran wanted to try, collecting a fee from unwilling shipping companies in a busy international strait would be vastly harder than policing a canal. During the current conflict, Iran has already shown it can deter traffic through force, with more than 40 neutral merchant vessels reportedly attacked and commercial shipping badly disrupted for months. But, as The Conversation notes, violence and coercion are not a sustainable basis for a peacetime charging system. Any attempt to keep vessels paying would risk fresh diplomatic fallout, sanctions and wider condemnation, including from major trading partners such as China.

Reports from other outlets suggest Tehran has nevertheless been testing the boundaries of what it can extract from maritime traffic. The Straits Times recently described secret codes and yuan-denominated payments being used to move ships through what it called Iran’s Hormuz tollbooth, while other coverage has highlighted a de facto transit-fee system and the procedural hurdles vessels face in seeking authorisation. Those accounts suggest that Iran’s leverage over the strait may already be translating into informal payments and opaque arrangements. But an informal wartime shakedown is not the same as an internationally accepted toll.

The broader geopolitical stakes are obvious. The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most important energy arteries, and any sustained interference threatens not just shipping but oil markets and regional stability. That is why Oman and other Gulf states have warned that any tolling arrangement would set a dangerous precedent for freedom of navigation. If one coastal state can demand payment for passage through an international strait, the principle could be difficult to contain elsewhere.

For now, Iran appears to be using the strait as a bargaining chip rather than a fully workable business model. It may be able to frighten ships away, and it may be able to extract concessions in a crisis. But as The Conversation concludes, leverage is not the same as control. In the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran can still cause trouble. What it is unlikely to do is turn that trouble into a permanent toll.

Source: Noah Wire Services