Tehran is trying to tighten its control over the Strait of Hormuz by imposing fees on vessels in exchange for safe passage, coordinated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, BTA reported, citing "Reuters".
The following is an explanation of the legal regime for collecting fees and the actions that countries that oppose the fees can take.
What is the Strait of Hormuz?
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and is part of the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. It is perhaps the most important route for energy supplies in the world. About 20% of the world's oil passes through it.
The strait is about 104 miles (167 kilometers) long. Its width varies, and at its narrowest point it consists of two 2-mile-wide channels for ships moving in both directions, separated by a 2-mile-wide buffer zone.
Tehran effectively closed the strait after the United States and Israel began striking Iran, and wants to collect tolls as a precondition for ending the war. The status of the toll collection has not yet been confirmed.
What is the legal regime for passage through the strait?
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982 and has been in force since 1994. Article 38 grants vessels the right of unimpeded "transit passage" through more than 100 straits around the world, including the Strait of Hormuz.
The convention allows countries bordering a strait to regulate passage through their "territorial sea", up to 12 nautical miles from their borders, but also allows for "innocent passage". Passage is innocent if it does not harm the country's state of peace, order and security. Military action, serious pollution, espionage and fishing are not permitted. The idea of innocent passage was key in the 1949 UN International Court of Justice case concerning the Corfu Channel, off the coast of Albania and Greece.
Approximately 170 countries and the European Union have ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Iran and the United States have not. This raises the question of whether the rules of the Freedom of Navigation Convention have become customary international law or are binding only on countries that have ratified it. Some non-ratifying countries may argue that they do not need to comply with the convention because they have consistently and consistently objected. Iran claims to have made such objections. The United States challenges Iran’s right to collect fees.
How can fees be challenged?
There is no formal mechanism for enforcing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, which was established under the convention, and the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, can issue rulings but cannot enforce them.
Countries and companies have other potential tools to oppose fees. A volunteer country or coalition of countries could enforce the convention. The UN Security Council could pass a resolution opposing the fees.
Companies could, and have begun to, divert supplies from the Strait of Hormuz. Countries could expand their sanctions on financial transactions seen as benefiting the Iranian government, sanctioning companies that are willing to pay the fees.