War in the Middle East: Iran creates an organization that will manage the Strait of Hormuz

A very important strategic lever for Iran, the Strait of Hormuz will now be managed by a new organization. The Persian Gulf Straits Authority (PGSA) will provide “real-time updates on operations” in the strait.

According to information from BFMTV, Iran announced that it had designed an organization whose objective is to manage the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime route for global hydrocarbon trade that Tehran has controlled since the start of the war. This service – called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) – now has its official account, where it will provide “real-time updates on operations” in the Strait, the Council indicated on social networks supreme national security and the navy of the Revolutionary Guards.

According to the specialist journal Lloyd’s List, the body is “responsible for approving ship transits and collecting passage fees in the Strait of Hormuz”. For their part, ships are required to provide detailed information on their ownership, insurance, crew members and their planned transit route.

Earlier this month, Iranian state television Press TV spoke of a “system intended to exercise sovereignty” of Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. On Sunday, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security, Ebrahim Azizi, affirmed that the country had “established a professional traffic management mechanism” in the strait, which would soon be operational. With this body, Iran also wishes to bring order and credibility to an opaque control system for ships wishing to leave the strategic maritime passage.

Especially since the Islamic Republic has set up a toll on the sea route to finance its reconstruction. The country has even received its first revenues, according to the vice-president of the Iranian Parliament, Hamidreza Hajibabaei, quoted by the Iranian press agency Tasnim, Les Échos recently reported.

Concerning negotiations to end the war, Iran indicated that it had responded to the new American proposal, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Our concerns have been transmitted to the American side,” declared the ministry’s spokesperson, Esmaïl Baghaï, during a press briefing, adding that exchanges were continuing with the United States “via the Pakistani mediator”.