Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Aug 24: Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), the body responsible for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, has warned that vessels violating Iranian protocols while transiting the strategic waterway could face restrictions on future passages.
In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, the PGSA said possible measures include fines, detention or confiscation of vessels.
The authority also urged “cargo owners shipping to and from the Persian Gulf” to review the list of “Non-Compliant Vessels” on its website before chartering ships to avoid potential complications, Xinhua news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Hassan Qashqavi, spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said the committee had approved an article in a draft plan aimed at safeguarding security in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to semi-official Fars news agency, the provision would allow Iran to charge fees for services it provides in the waterway.
Qashqavi said the fees would cover navigation, environmental services, refuelling under special conditions, insurance and safety services provided by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
The development comes amid heightened tensions over the strategic waterway and Iran’s wider dispute with the United States.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump described the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory” while reiterating that Iran would not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Trump made the remarks at a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he was seeking support for Republican Senate candidate Darlene Graham ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election.
“They wanna make a deal so badly,” Trump said while discussing Iran before referring to the strategically important waterway and declaring, “It's an American territory.”
He did not provide a legal or territorial basis for the assertion.
Trump also said the conflict with Iran had disrupted his domestic economic agenda.
“I hate to do this, but we're gonna have to take a little detour down to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we're gonna have to put out the nuclear weapons stuff because they're gonna have a nuclear weapon and we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
“We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added.
Iran tightened its control over the Strait of Hormuz on February 28, barring safe passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following joint strikes by the two countries on Iranian territory.