Iran says new Hormuz transit mechanism under consultation with littoral states

TEHRAN, Iran — TEHRAN — Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran will continue implementing a new mechanism for managing transit through the Strait of Hormuz in consultation with littoral states. He accused the United States of attempting to interfere in the administration of the waterway and said Iran would not allow such interference. Ghalibaf said Iran and Oman have reached agreement on a transit mechanism for the strait, based on Article 5 of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. He also accused Israel of seeking to sabotage the Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding. Separately, Persian Gulf states are evaluating transit fees that ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz would pay to Iran and Oman. Some European powers have accepted that vessels transiting the strait should pay these fees. Oman has presented a transit-fee proposal, partly modeled on practices at the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore, to the United States and its Western allies. While Tehran has presented the project as voluntary, it is insisting that the fees be binding.