Iran lawmakers are considering enacting sweeping, punitive laws that would block ships from the U.S., Israel and other undefined “hostile” nations from transiting the disputed waters of the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s national news service reports. Penalty fines are also being considered in the act of revenge as Iran sees itself as the sole agent policing shipping traffic in the region – waters which are a passage for roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply as well as a host of other essential commodities including liquified natural gas (LNG).
The plan would impose fees of up to seven percent of cargo value on commercial vessels that pass through the strait. It would also fine ships 20 percent of cargo if they violate Iran’s conditions. Reports indicate Tehran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency carried the news the proposed legislation, dubbed the “Strategic Action for the Security and Sustainable Development of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf,” now under review by parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Ynetnews reports.
