Ten ships a day: Iran has decided to charge a fee for passage through the Strait of Hormuz in cryptocurrency
9 April 15:11
As a result of the war in the Middle East and the two-week ceasefire agreed upon on Tuesday, the Strait of Hormuz—through which, just five weeks ago, about 20% of the world’s oil and LNG was freely exported—has come under Iranian control. It informed intermediaries that, as part of the ceasefire, it would allow about a dozen ships per day to pass through the strait and would charge them a fee; at the same time, as sources in Arab countries told The Wall Street Journal, ships must obtain permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
The transit fee will be $1 per barrel, and empty ships will be able to pass for free, Hamid Hosseini, a representative of the Iranian Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Exporters Association, explained to the Financial Times. According to him, every ship will also be inspected:
“Iran needs to monitor what is being imported and exported through the strait to prevent the transport of weapons during these two weeks. All [ships] can pass, but inspecting each one will take time, and Iran is in no hurry.”
On Wednesday, only four vessels passed through the strait, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence—even fewer than on other days in April (before the war, there were an average of 135 per day). Iran broadcast a message via marine radio to all vessels in the Persian and Oman Gulfs, located on either side of the Strait of Hormuz, warning that ships without permission from the IRGC could be destroyed. A crew member of one of the vessels shared a recording of this message with the WSJ.
Iran now simply must maintain control over the strait, says Danny Citronovich, former head of the Iranian division of Israeli military intelligence:
The Strait of Hormuz has undoubtedly become just as important to them as missiles and the nuclear program.
According to intermediaries and shipping brokers, Iran is demanding that payment terms be agreed upon in advance and that the fee be paid in cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan, the WSJ reports. Hosseini told the FT that Iran will require payment in cryptocurrency. To do this, every passing tanker will have to send an email to the authorities with information about its cargo, after which Iran will notify it of the fee amount.
In addition, according to Hosseini, Iran will require all tankers to use the northern route along its coast for passage, rather than the southern route along the coast of Oman. This raises the question of whether ships from Western countries or Gulf states will dare to take the risk of passing along the Iranian coast.
The U.S. publicly insists on ensuring free and unimpeded passage through the Strait of Hormuz. However, Iran shows no willingness to ease its control. On Wednesday afternoon, it announced that it was suspending tanker passage in response to Israel’s continued bombing of Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
Oil company executives are urging the White House to protest Iran’s imposition of fees, one industry consultant told Politico:
We haven’t had to do this before, and I thought we’d won the war. But now, whenever you meet with an administration official, you ask, “What are you guys thinking?” And they’re like, “Yeah, okay, we’ll take note.”
