Iran and Oman Float Hormuz Toll Plan as Warnings Continue
Iran and Oman have proposed a fee scheme for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and European governments are reported to be resigned to some form of transit charge — a day after Tehran’s military warned tankers defying its designated routes would face “an immediate and forceful response”. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the region’s security would come “through the end of interventions and the US withdrawal from the area”. Brent traded back above $72 after dipping below $71 on Thursday for the first time since the war began.
A negotiated toll would be a structural change to global shipping: the strait carried roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG trade before the war, and free navigation has been Washington’s red line throughout. Traffic tells the story of fragile confidence — 45 transits on Wednesday against a pre-war norm of about 130 a day, and 49 attacks on commercial vessels since February. The next Doha round waits until Khamenei’s funeral rites end on 9 July. Watch whether Washington softens its free-passage position now that European capitals appear ready to live with fees.