Morning Edition · Tuesday, July 28, 2026Published at 1:14 AM EDT · New York

Iran and Oman Discuss Charging Western Ships to Pass Through the Strait of Hormuz

Iran's ambassador to Moscow says the two countries are negotiating a fee on Western-flagged vessels, as Australia weighs its first new oil refinery in six decades.

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Iran and Oman Discuss Charging Western Ships to Pass Through the Strait of Hormuz

Iran and Oman are negotiating an arrangement to charge Western-flagged ships for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, told Kommersant. Jalali said Tehran and Muscat, which share control of the waterway, are making joint decisions on its security, and that a toll on vessels from Western countries is under discussion. The claim comes from Iranian officials and has not been confirmed by Oman, but it signals how Tehran intends to use its geographic position for leverage.

The world's importers are already adjusting to the risk. Australia will consider building its first new oil refinery in more than 60 years, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, as the Middle East war strains fuel supplies and exposes how dependent the country has become on imported refined fuel, the South China Morning Post reported. Roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil passes through Hormuz, and any formal charge on transit would raise costs for the buyers least aligned with Tehran.

Part of a tracked trend

Hormuz Chokepoint Repricing

Recurring Gulf conflict forces energy exporters and importers to build costly workarounds around the Strait of Hormuz, permanently raising the risk premium embedded in Gulf trade and infrastructure.

Veracity: Plausible

54/100

If true, who benefits: An Iranian claim of a joint Hormuz toll projects leverage over Western shipping and strengthens Tehran's bargaining position with Washington.
The nuance: The claim comes solely from Iran's ambassador to Moscow, and Oman's foreign minister has publicly said Muscat does not support charging ships to transit the strait.

An open-source-intelligence read of how likely this story is true with its real nuance, not a judgment of any outlet. It assesses the claim, weighing independent and adversarial reporting. How we label confidence.

What this means

A transit fee aimed specifically at Western shipping would turn a chokepoint into a political instrument, raising the landed cost of oil for the United States and its allies while leaving buyers in Asia and the Global South relatively better off, a redistribution that pushes energy trade further along bloc lines. The exposure is concentrated in import-dependent economies without refining capacity, which is precisely why Australia is now reconsidering domestic refining. Whether this becomes real depends on Oman's cooperation, since Tehran cannot impose a toll on the strait alone, and Muscat has every reason to protect its neutral standing.

What to watch

Any confirmation or denial from Oman, which controls the southern side of the strait and whose agreement is required for any toll to hold.
War-risk insurance rates for tankers transiting Hormuz, the cleanest market signal of how seriously shippers take the threat.
Whether other importers follow Australia in reshoring refining capacity, a sign that the chokepoint premium is being treated as permanent.

Observations to monitor, not financial advice.

2 sources

Synthesized from: Kommersant · South China Morning Post