The Iranian ambassador to China reaffirmed a plan to impose transit fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and said Iran is considering special treatment for countries friendly to Iran.
According to Bloomberg News and Agence France-Presse on the 4th (local time), Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran's ambassador to China, said at the World Peace Forum held in Beijing that day, "As a country for which Hormuz is part of its territorial waters, we will definitely impose a service fee."
However, Ambassador Fazli argued that this is not a "toll," but compensation for ensuring and overseeing the safety of transiting vessels and responding to environmental impacts from the operation of large ships.
He said, "We will definitely consider special treatment for countries that have been friendly to us and stood by us, especially in difficult times," adding that China clearly qualifies as a friendly country.
The remarks came as normalization of the Strait of Hormuz emerged as a key sticking point in follow-up talks after Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war with the United States.
There were also reports that despite a U.S. proposal to release frozen funds, Iran has not backed down from its claim to collect Hormuz transit fees, which are expected to total $40 billion a year (about 62 trillion won).
Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reported that ship-tracking data confirmed that vessels attempting to exit the Persian Gulf via the Oman-side lane of the Strait of Hormuz abruptly made U-turns between the 3rd and 4th.
According to Bloomberg, more than eight ships, including oil tankers, bulk carriers, and vehicle carriers, reversed course. Of these, one crude oil tanker, two oil product tankers, and one bulk carrier changed routes and exited the Persian Gulf along a lane closer to Iran's coast.
The exact reason the ships changed course abruptly has not been confirmed.
Iran has repeatedly insisted that ships must pass through the strait only via the approved lanes designated by Iran and is known to have issued radio warnings to ships seeking to use other lanes.
Some ships reportedly ignored Iran's warnings and continued sailing, then came under attack.
According to Bloomberg, an average of about 34 commodity carriers per day passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the 29th of last month. That is higher than during the war period, but still well below the level before the war broke out on Feb. 28.
According to the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), a U.S.-led multinational naval forum in the Middle East, 65 vessels transited the strait along the Oman-side lane between the 30th of last month and the 1st of this month, of which 59 received U.S. support.