A brand new Iranian authority will now be responsible for managing the Strait of Hormuz. Through the creation on social networks of the account for the Persian Gulf Strait Authority this Monday, May 18, Iran formalized the establishment of this body responsible for managing and providing « des mises à jour en temps réel sur les opérations » in the strait. The announcement was relayed on social networks by the Supreme National Security Council and the Revolutionary Guard Navy.
“The official account of the Persian Gulf Waterways Authority (#PGSA) has been launched on X to inform you about the activities of this organization. Follow us to know the status of the Strait of Hormuz »is written in a post published this Monday morning on the PGSA account.
It is about “the legal institution and representative authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for the management of passage and navigation through the Strait of Hormuzâ€it was clarified later in the day.
According to the specialist journal Lloyd’s List, it is “responsible for approving vessel transits and collecting passage fees through the Strait of Hormuz”. The strategic maritime route, which normally sees the majority of the world’s hydrocarbons transit, has been the focal point of the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel since the beginning of March.
« A professional traffic management mechanism »
Ships are required to provide detailed information about their ownership, insurance, crew members and their planned transit route, according to the same source. Ships transiting the strait must then receive « instructions » by email. “Any passage without authorization will be considered illegal,” warned the organization on X this Monday.
Earlier this month, Iranian state television Press TV presented the PGSA as a “A system destined to exercise sovereignty” of Iran on the Strait of Hormuz. A system which is therefore for the regime, the only authority authorized to grant authorizations to boats transiting through Hormuz.
On Sunday, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security, Ebrahim Azizi, said the country had “established a professional traffic management mechanism†in the strait, which would soon be operational.
Since the start of the war, triggered at the end of February by an American-Israeli offensive, Iran has insisted that traffic in the strait “Would not return to its pre-war situation”. On April 23, Tehran announced that it had received the first revenues from tolls imposed on this strategic route.
An authority that could pose a problem to the international community
But the implementation of this toll is unlikely to be accepted, according to Dimitris Maniatis, head of a Greek company specializing in the management and analysis of maritime risks, Marisks, interviewed at the beginning of May by the These. “It would certainly not be acceptable to the international community, but above all, it would not be accepted by the other Gulf states.”he says. And to add: “I think they’re just playing a game. They’re throwing out ideas and watching the reactions.”
The spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) confirmed that it had “Learned PGSA Reports and Launched Website†but reminds that freedom of navigation is not « pas négociable ».
Iranian control of this maritime passage, through which nearly a fifth of global oil production usually passes, disrupts global energy markets and offers Tehran important strategic leverage. The United States, for its part, maintains its own blockade of Iranian ports despite the fragile ceasefire that came into force on April 8.
