# Japan tells Iran it will not accept transit fees for the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian lawmakers have reviewed a bill charging roughly $1.5 million to $2 million per vessel, and the strait has been effectively closed for more than five months.

- Published: 2026-08-13T05:22:48.900Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-08-13/japan-tells-iran-it-will-not-accept-transit-fees-for-the-str
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [The Japan Times](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/08/13/japan/takaichi-iran-president-hormuz-fees/), [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-us-war-west-asia-live-updates-donald-trump-august-13-2026/article71339299.ece)

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a twenty-minute call on Wednesday that free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz must be assured without additional costs, [The Japan Times reported](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/08/13/japan/takaichi-iran-president-hormuz-fees/). It was their fourth conversation since the war began in late February. Japanese wire service [Jiji headlined the message as a refusal to accept Hormuz transit tolls](https://sp.m.jiji.com/article/show/3844142). Takaichi also raised the Bab el-Mandeb strait and asked Iran to press the Houthi movement toward restraint.

What Iran is actually proposing is contested. Iranian outlets report that parliament has reviewed a preliminary bill imposing transit fees averaging [between $1.5 million and $2 million per vessel](https://fararu.com/fa/news/978350/), scaled by cargo, while barring American, Israeli and other vessels Tehran classifies as hostile. With more than 30,000 transits a year before the war, Iranian projections of the revenue run into the billions of dollars. The state-linked agency Nournews has claimed the [first fees have already been deposited in the national treasury](https://nournews.ir/fa/news/312252/). CBS has reported that the framework being negotiated through Oman does not include tolls, and Iranian outlets dispute that account. Iran's lead negotiator has said the strait will not return to pre-war conditions and that Tehran will charge fees for services.

Washington's position is also inconsistent. President Donald Trump has described a Hormuz toll as a beautiful thing in one interview, while the Treasury has warned that shippers paying Iran a transit fee face sanctions and the Navy has said it will seize such vessels. Trump has meanwhile shifted from strikes toward economic pressure, telling reporters, in remarks carried by [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-us-war-west-asia-live-updates-donald-trump-august-13-2026/article71339299.ece), that the United States is only semi-negotiating and is watching Iran's inflation and lack of money. United States Central Command said 55 commercial vessels had been redirected as of 9 August, up from 35 a week earlier, with two ships disabled and two boarded.

Oil has not repriced sharply on the exchange. Brent settled at $88.98 a barrel on Wednesday and West Texas Intermediate at $83.27, [each up seven cents](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/12/oil-prices-today-wti-brent-red-sea.html). The waterway carried roughly a quarter of seaborne oil and a fifth of global liquefied natural gas before the closure.

## What this means

A per-vessel toll would convert a temporary blockade into a permanent tax on Gulf energy exports, and it falls hardest on Asian importers with no alternative route. Japan and South Korea, which draw most of their crude and liquefied natural gas through the strait, face the cost directly in refining margins and utility bills. The two outcomes that matter are distinct: if the interim toll-free window holds and reopening proceeds without fees, shipping costs normalise, and if Iran begins collecting while the United States sanctions payers, shipowners face a choice between two governments and freight rates for Gulf cargoes stay elevated regardless of the oil price.

## What to watch

- Whether any major shipowner publicly pays or refuses an Iranian transit fee, which would be the first real test of whether Tehran can enforce the charge against United States sanctions threats.
- The daily count of vessels transiting the strait. Traffic fell to eight on Tuesday from ten the prior week, and a sustained recovery would signal the negotiation is working faster than the public statements suggest.
- Whether Japan and South Korea coordinate a joint position on tolls, which would turn a bilateral objection into a claim about freedom of navigation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.