Iran: Toll Issues

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps now requires ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz to pay for their security in renminbi or cryptocurrency. With the American disengagement from ensuring freedom of navigation, there are no other actors stepping up to provide global maritime security, potentially leading to a lasting militarization of the passage. If this precedent catches on, the thirteen major maritime chokepoints that handle $10 trillion of annual trade could all become toll points.

By Tom Holland

The leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have always had a knack for good business. From mobile phone operators to airports to national natural gas distribution, the IRGC’s commercial interests span the entire Iranian economy. Today, this enterprising organization has found a profitable way to capitalize on the current war: reportedly, the IRGC now charges a “toll” to allow ships flying the flags of “friendly” countries to cross the Strait of Hormuz without incident. Ships that do not pay this toll remain vulnerable to drone or missile attacks.

Details are scarce; few international maritime leaders are eager to admit to paying this toll. But according to reports, the IRGC may be prepared to allow the passage of ships flying the flags of countries such as China, Malaysia, India, and Pakistan, including those that have hastily re-registered and changed flags. Ships are required to sail off the Iranian rule of Larak, after paying the IRGC a fee in renminbi or cryptocurrency. One ship allegedly paid the equivalent of $2 million for the crossing.

“In the last week of March, only 24 merchant ships openly crossed the strait, compared to over 600 in the last week of February, before the war.”

Clearly, most maritime companies are not paying this toll. But it is evident that some operators are reaching into their pockets. Among the ships that reportedly paid the toll in recent days are container ships, bulk carriers, and tankers. And judging by recent statements from the US president and other leaders, more are expected to pay this toll in the future. Read also: Strait of Hormuz: Maritime Trade Blockade

Research: a new global policing system

“The United States barely imports oil through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Donald Trump. “Countries around the world that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz should take care of this passage… They should take the initiative to protect the oil they depend on so desperately.” This marks a radical departure from March 2025, when US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described the “restoration of freedom of navigation” as “a fundamental national interest” and the primary objective of US airstrikes against the Houthi movement in Yemen.

The US is no longer determined to ensure the security of commercial navigation on major international sea routes, and there are no other candidates willing to take on the role of global maritime policeman. French President Emmanuel Macron and the British Foreign Secretary have made it clear they are not interested in this role.

If the US does not demand that Iran abandon its threats to navigation as a condition for ending hostilities, this threat – and the toll imposed by Iran – will remain in effect even if Trump declares victory and ends the bombings. And the longer the Iranian threat persists, the more the world will desperately need energy deliveries and other essential exports from the Gulf – and the higher the prices will rise – the more maritime companies will pay this toll.

Read also: Straits and canals: when war threatens the arteries of world trade

A precedent with global consequences

Before the war, about 25 oil tankers a day, carrying an average of 20 million barrels of oil, left the Gulf for the rest of the world, mainly to Asia. If this $2 million toll becomes standard, and if Iran also applies it to ships entering in ballast, it will result in a $5 per barrel surcharge on Gulf oil prices shipped from Hormuz. Globally, this equates to a $1 per barrel increase on major oil benchmark indices. And if this tax applies to all commercial ships, not just oil tankers, it represents an additional $50 billion in annual revenue for the IRGC.

“In the short term, this perspective means the end of Dubai as a transshipment hub. It also strongly encourages Arab Gulf energy producers to develop pipeline connections to alternative export terminals outside the Persian Gulf.”

This will be relatively easy for Saudi Arabia, which already has an export terminal on the Red Sea, and for the United Arab Emirates, which have one in the Gulf of Oman. It will be much more difficult and costly for Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq. And of course, this also gives hydrocarbon importers, especially in Asia, an additional incentive to develop alternative energy supply sources.

Read also: Iranian naval mines, the invisible weapon of the Strait of Hormuz

But perhaps even more worrying is the precedent set by Iran’s toll. If Iran manages to flout the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by denying “innocent passage” and imposing a toll on commercial ships to cross the Strait of Hormuz, other governments and armed groups may follow suit. Why not charge for passage through the Bab al-Mandab Strait? The Strait of Malacca? The Strait of Gibraltar? The Bosphorus? The English Channel? The Taiwan Strait?

“According to a 2023 academic study, up to three-quarters of the world’s maritime trade value, about $10 trillion a year, passes through 13 strategic maritime chokepoints.”

If the idea of imposing a toll gains traction, this additional wrench thrown into the gears of international trade will be a major obstacle to global trade – and to global economic growth.

Read also: Naval mines, the invisible weapon of the Strait of Hormuz