Since the dawn of creation, the Strait of Hormuz has been a strategic, governing maritime passage in the Arabian Sea region connecting to the world, through which people, trade, and oil and gas tankers pass.
All of this took place under the international law of the sea, signed in 1992 and deposited with the United Nations, and accordingly the Strait of Hormuz has permitted the free passage of international maritime traffic without obstruction — and, more importantly, without any fees.
For weeks now, following the military confrontations between Iran and the United States, we find ourselves facing the following developments:
1 — A naval blockade, and a blockade of the blockade.
2 — An unprecedented presence of military naval vessels from Iran, the United States, and some NATO countries.
3 — Iran's declaration that it considers the strait to fall under its jurisdiction, requiring special oversight and transit licences from Iran, and that accordingly — under this claim — Iran has the right to collect transit fees.
4 — The day before yesterday, President Donald Trump announced his desire to collect transit fees as an insurance payment in exchange for safeguarding passage through the strait.
5 — Trump set these fees at 20% of the value of the goods or cargo being transported.
6 — This entire logic does not conform to any international law or to any precedent established since the Second World War up to the present day.
One cannot fathom how President Trump is demanding the imposition of fees while his Vice President Vance and his Secretary of State Rubio declared last week that passage through Hormuz must not be subject to any fees in any form whatsoever.