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Iran Imposes $1-Per-Barrel Hormuz Fee, Excludes US Vessels

5/17/2026

50 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Iran Levies Fees

Iran announced a mechanism to manage Strait of Hormuz traffic and levy fees.
Ebrahim Azizi, chair of the parliament's Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said only commercial vessels and cooperating parties will benefit.
The scheme will charge about $1 per barrel of oil in Iranian currency.
The route will stay closed to U.S. Project Freedom vessels and ships from warring nations, leveraging the strait’s one-fifth share of oil and gas.

Summary

Iran Fee Illegal

Hwang Jong-woo, South Korea’s oceans minister, called Iran’s fee plan illegal.
Four South Korean ships returned via the Red Sea while 26 vessels remain stranded.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said the strait is wholly Omani-Iranian water.
Lord Llewellyn and other Western officials called the toll proposal unlawful, noting Iran never ratified the Convention on the Law of the Sea and France and the UK offered Oman a navigation plan.

History

Historical Context

In June 2020 Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that carries roughly 20 % of global oil, prompting OPEC to note a loss of about 21 million barrels per day. Today parliament chair Ebrahim Azizi and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi propose a $1-per-barrel toll, a move denounced by South Korea’s oceans minister Hwang Jong-woo and Britain’s Lord Llewellyn as illegal under UNCLOS.

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Iran Levies Fees

Iran announced a mechanism to manage Strait of Hormuz traffic and levy fees.
Ebrahim Azizi, chair of the parliament's Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said only commercial vessels and cooperating parties will benefit.
The scheme will charge about $1 per barrel of oil in Iranian currency.
The route will stay closed to U.S. Project Freedom vessels and ships from warring nations, leveraging the strait’s one-fifth share of oil and gas.

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