Summary
- Iran said it will collect transit fees in cryptocurrency and digital currency from tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
- The transit fee is $1 per barrel of crude oil, and ships must pay in cryptocurrency "within seconds" after clearing Iranian screening.
- Only three vessels exited the strait after the ceasefire announcement, and Iranian media reported that the Strait of Hormuz had been fully blocked again.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Iranian trade group spokesman says fee is $1 a barrel
Only three ships passed on first day of ceasefire
Iranian media says strait has been fully shut again
Iran plans to collect transit fees in cryptocurrency from tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire agreed with the US.
Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Association, told the Financial Times on Aug. 8 that Iran will charge all passing tankers and inspect each vessel.
Iran must monitor ships moving through the strait over the next two weeks to ensure they are not being used to transport weapons, Hosseini said. All vessels will be allowed to pass, but procedures for each ship will take time and Iran will not rush them.
Iran later halted all tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. Before the suspension, Hosseini said all tankers would have to notify authorities by email about their cargo, after which Iran would inform them of the transit fee to be paid in digital currency. The fee is $1 per barrel of crude oil, while empty tankers will be allowed to pass freely.
Ships must pay the fee in cryptocurrency "within seconds" after clearing Iran's screening process, he said, adding that the arrangement is meant to prevent funds from being tracked or seized because of sanctions.
Earlier, President Donald Trump said the US had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran on the condition that Tehran immediately and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Bloomberg reported that only three vessels exited the waterway after the ceasefire was announced. Iran's Press TV also said the strait had been completely blocked again and that tankers were turning back.
Iran warned vessels near the Strait of Hormuz that they would be destroyed if they failed to obtain passage permission from the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The US and Iran have offered conflicting accounts of the agreement on keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. Trump and the White House say Iran agreed to reopen the strait, while Iran says the US instead acknowledged Tehran's control over the waterway.
Park Su-bin, Hankyung.com reporter, waterbean@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
