Regional
Can Iran legally impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz?
Article 38 provides vessels a right of unimpeded “transit passage” through more than 100 straits worldwide, including the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran has sought to tighten its grip over the Strait of Hormuz by charging tolls on vessels to ensure safe passage, in conjunction with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Reuters reported.
The following explains law governing toll collections and actions that countries opposed to tolls might take.
WHAT IS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ?
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway connecting the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, and located within Iran’s and Oman’s territorial waters. It is perhaps the world’s most important energy shipping lane. About 20% of the world’s oil passes through it.
The waterway is about 104 miles (167 km) long. Its width varies, and at its narrowest point provides 2-mile channels for inbound and outbound shipping, separated by a 2-mile buffer zone.
Iran effectively closed the strait following U.S.-Israeli strikes on the country, and has demanded a right to collect tolls as a precondition to ending the war. The status of any toll collections so far could not immediately be confirmed.
WHAT LAW GOVERNS PASSAGE ON THE STRAIT?
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, sometimes known as UNCLOS, was adopted in 1982 and has been in force since 1994.
Article 38 provides vessels a right of unimpeded “transit passage” through more than 100 straits worldwide, including the Strait of Hormuz.
The treaty allows a country bordering a strait to regulate passage within its “territorial sea,” up to 12 nautical miles from its border, but shall permit “innocent passage.”
Passage is innocent if it is not prejudicial to a country’s peace, good order and security. Military action, serious pollution, spying and fishing are not permitted. The concept of innocent passage was key to a 1949 International Court of Justice case concerning the Corfu Channel, along the coasts of Albania and Greece, read the report.
Approximately 170 countries and the European Union have ratified UNCLOS. Iran and the United States have not. This raises the question of whether the treaty’s rules affording freedom of maritime navigation have become part of customary international law, or bind only ratifying countries.
Experts say UNCLOS has become or is generally viewed as customary international law. Some non-ratifying countries may argue that they need not follow the treaty because they persistently and consistently object. Iran has argued that it has made such objections. The United States disputes Iran’s authority to charge tolls.
HOW CAN TOLLS BE CHALLENGED?
There is no formal mechanism to enforce UNCLOS. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, which the treaty established, and the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands could issue rulings but cannot enforce them.
Countries and businesses have other potential means to counteract tolls.
A willing state or coalition of states could try to enforce the treaty. The UN Security Council could pass a resolution opposing tolls.
Companies could redirect shipments away from the Strait of Hormuz, and have begun doing so. Countries could expand sanctions targeting financial transactions believed to benefit Iran’s government, by sanctioning companies willing to pay tolls.
Regional
Azerbaijan hosts record-breaking World Urban Forum in Baku
The event is also seen as an opportunity for Azerbaijan to showcase its long-term vision for sustainable urban planning and regional development to a global audience.
Azerbaijan is hosting the 13th session of the World Urban Forum in Baku from May 17 to May 22, bringing together tens of thousands of participants from around the world to discuss the future of sustainable cities and urban development.
The forum officially opened on Saturday at the Baku Olympic Stadium and is being organized jointly by the Azerbaijani government and UN-Habitat.
According to organizers, more than 40,000 participants from 182 countries have registered for the event, making it the largest edition in the forum’s history and highlighting Azerbaijan’s growing role as a host of major international gatherings.
Government officials, urban planners, investors, academics and representatives from international organizations and civil society are expected to participate in discussions on sustainable urbanization, climate resilience, affordable housing, digital transformation and the development of environmentally friendly cities.
A key focus of this year’s forum will be Azerbaijan’s reconstruction and development projects in Karabakh and East Zangazur. Officials are expected to present the country’s “smart city” and “smart village” initiatives in the formerly conflict-affected territories, alongside plans to develop the region as a green energy zone.
The event is also seen as an opportunity for Azerbaijan to showcase its long-term vision for sustainable urban planning and regional development to a global audience.
For the first time in the history of the World Urban Forum, the event will include a special Leaders’ Summit segment aimed at increasing high-level political dialogue on global urban challenges.
To accommodate the large international audience, simultaneous interpretation is being provided in the six official United Nations languages — Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish — as well as Azerbaijani and Turkish.
Regional media representatives, including reporters covering the forum from Baku, are also attending the event to provide on-the-ground coverage of the discussions and outcomes.
Mosques in northern Gaza on Saturday announced that Hamas’ military wing commander had died, a day after Israel’s military said that it had targeted the armed wing chief in airstrikes.
Witnesses said that mosques in Gaza City had announced Izz al-Din al-Haddad’s “martyrdom”. There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the fate of the group’s military chief, Reuters reported.
Israel has not said if he was killed in the air strikes.
Tehran has “no trust” in the U.S. and is interested in negotiating with Washington only if it is serious, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday, as talks on ending the war remained on hold.
Araqchi told reporters in New Delhi that all vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz except those “at war” with Tehran, if they coordinate with Iran’s navy.
But the situation around the waterway, vital to global energy and commodities markets, was “very complicated”, he added, during a visit to attend a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in India.
In a post on X, Araqchi said he told India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that “Iran will always carry out historical duty as protector of security in Hormuz,” according to his post on X.
Iran effectively shut the strait, which normally handles about one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and gas supply, to most shipping after the U.S. and Israel began their war on Iran in February.
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