All posts tagged: tolls

UK rejects tolls on Strait of Hormuz – POLITICO

UK rejects tolls on Strait of Hormuz – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States would use Iran’s 10-point plan — which calls for it to collect a toll of $2 million per ship — as a basis for a permanent ceasefire. The U.S. president has not argued against Iran collecting tolls, and publicly mused that the U.S. could form a “joint venture” on the operation. In a speech Thursday evening, the U.K. foreign secretary will reiterate her call for the Strait to be reopened, arguing freedom of the seas “must not be unilaterally withdrawn or sold off to individual bidders. Nor can there be any place for tolls on an international waterway.” Cooper told the BBC the freedom of the seas is a “principle that applies right across the globe, and it’s crucial for the cost of living back here at home. It’s crucial for the global economy.” British Defence Secretary John Healey said at a press conference later Thursday that Gulf countries agree with the U.K. on the dangers of introducing tolls as it “would create a potential principle …

Iran’s Proposal to Collect Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Violates Trade Norms

Iran’s Proposal to Collect Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Violates Trade Norms

Published by Sam Flores

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — To end the war with the United States and Israel, Iran is demanding the right to collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz as a precondition for reopening the waterway vital to world oil supplies. Yet collecting tolls in the strait would violate a basic and enduring principle of international maritime trade: freedom of peaceful navigation. It’s an ancient idea that was codified by the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994. Opening the strait would save the global economy from supply constraints that have pushed energy and fertilizer prices sharply higher since the war began on Feb. 28. But agreeing to Iranian toll-collecting would cement the Islamic Republic’s control over the strait through which 20% of the world’s oil is shipped — and enrich the country against whom the war was launched. U.S. President Donald Trump has made reopening the strait a priority. But the White House said Wednesday he is opposed to tolls, and analysts say the Gulf’s oil producers are, too. …

We won’t pay your Strait of Hormuz tolls, UK tells Iran

We won’t pay your Strait of Hormuz tolls, UK tells Iran

Published by Sam Flores

Britain will “comprehensively reject” any attempt by Iran to charge ships multimillion-dollar fees to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, the Foreign Secretary has said. Yvette Cooper chaired a virtual meeting of more than 40 countries on Thursday, with those involved calling for an “immediate and unconditional reopening” of the crucial maritime corridor. Shortly after the meeting, Iran’s foreign ministry said it was working on a proposal with Oman to issue permits to ships passing through the strait once the war comes to an end “to ensure safe maritime passage”. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has kept the waterway, which carries 20 per cent of the world’s oil, effectively closed since early March. At least one vessel has been charged $2m (£1.5m) to cross the strait via what has been described as the “Tehran toll booth”. Analysts have estimated that Tehran could collect $110bn a year if it continued to impose $2m fees. 0304 Strait of Hormuz traffic After the crisis meeting, Ms Cooper said Tehran must “not be allowed to hold the global economy hostage” …

Middle Eastern countries suffer vastly different death tolls as the conflict spreads from Iran

Middle Eastern countries suffer vastly different death tolls as the conflict spreads from Iran

Published by Sam Flores

A bloodstained mattress in a room at the Comfort Hotel, which was targeted by an Israeli strike that left one dead and three injured, in Baabda, Lebanon, on March 4, 2026. RAFAEL YAGHOBZADEH FOR LE MONDE Six days after Israel and the United States started the current war against Iran, on Saturday, February 28, the conflict has now spread to the Gulf countries and Lebanon. Yet, at this stage, the human death toll appears to be vastly different on each side of the war. While the conflict has spread to affect the entire region, the countries directly or indirectly involved in it have not suffered in the same way. Despite facing several hundred missiles and drones launched by Iran, Israel and the Gulf states have suffered relatively few fatalities. The death toll has been much higher in Iran and Lebanon, which have come under continuous fire and bombardment. The Iranian death toll is uncertain The Islamic Republic of Iran has yet to release any official casualty figures. The Iranian Red Crescent has cited a provisional …

Israeli strikes kill at least 30 across Gaza in one of highest tolls since October ceasefire

Israeli strikes kill at least 30 across Gaza in one of highest tolls since October ceasefire

Published by Sam Flores

Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting. A day after Israel accused Hamas of new ceasefire violations, strikes hit locations throughout Gaza, including lethal ones on an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent camp in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. An air strike also hit a police station in Gaza City, killing at least 14 and wounding others, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said. The series of strikes also came a day before the Rafah crossing along the border with Egypt is set to open in Gaza’s southernmost city. All of the territory’s border crossings have been closed throughout almost the entire war. Palestinians see Rafah as a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. To display this content from YouTube, …