Iran and Oman announced a working group Tuesday to administer services related to future navigation of the Strait of Hormuz and “the costs associated with them” — even as the Trump administration publicly insisted that Tehran can’t charge tolls.
The two countries said in a joint statement they had “agreed to maintain their dialogue on this issue through a joint working group … in order to reach agreement on the future administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the services that will be provided in this regard and the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards.”
Over recent months, Iran has publicly threatened to charge ship operators a toll to cross the Strait of Hormuz, though it recently tweaked its language to describe it as fees for unspecified services.
Nearly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies flowed through the critical waterway annually.
Since the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, ships have begun traversing the waterway once again, though at rates below pre-war levels.
