Can Iran legally put a price on passage through the Strait of Hormuz?
The following describes the law governing toll collections and the actions that countries that oppose tolls can take.
Also Read: Iran offers to allow ships to exit Hormuz without attack from Oman side, source says
WHAT IS HORUZ THROAT?
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway connecting the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and is located within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. It is perhaps the most important energy transportation line in the world. Approximately 20% of the world’s oil passes through here.
The waterway is approximately 104 miles (167 km) long. It varies in width and at its narrowest provides 2 miles of channels separated by a 2-mile buffer zone for incoming and outgoing shipping.
Iran effectively closed the strait following US-Israeli attacks on the country and demanded the right to collect tolls as a precondition for ending the war. The status of any fee collections could not be immediately confirmed so far.
WHAT LAW GOVERNS THE TRANSITION IN THE BOSPHORUS?
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, sometimes known as UNCLOS, was adopted in 1982 and has been in force since 1994. Article 38 grants ships the right to unimpeded “transit” through more than 100 straits around the world, including the Strait of Hormuz.
The agreement allows a country bordering a strait to regulate passage within “territorial waters” up to 12 nautical miles from its border, but will allow “innocent passage”.
Also Read: US announces new sanctions on Iranian oil for holding Hormuz ‘hostage’
Transition is innocent as long as it does not harm the peace, order and security of a country. Military action, serious pollution, espionage and fishing are not permitted. The concept of innocent passage was key to the 1949 International Court of Justice case concerning the Corfu Canal off the coasts of Albania and Greece.
Approximately 170 countries and the European Union have ratified UNCLOS. Iran and the US did not do this. This raises the question of whether the treaty’s rules ensuring freedom of navigation have become part of customary international law or whether they are binding only on ratifying countries.
UNCLOS has become customary international law, or is generally viewed as such, experts say. Some countries that have not ratified may argue that they do not need to comply with the treaty because they have persistently and persistently objected to it. Iran, on the other hand, defended that it made such objections. The United States opposes Iran’s authority to charge tolls.
HOW CAN EXPENSES BE DIFFICULT?
There is no formal mechanism to enforce UNCLOS. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, and the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, established by the agreement, can make decisions but cannot implement them.
Countries and businesses have other potential tools to avoid tolls.
A willing state or coalition of states could attempt to implement the agreement. The UN Security Council could pass a resolution against tolls.
Companies can redirect their shipments away from the Strait of Hormuz, and they have begun to do so. By imposing sanctions on companies willing to pay tolls, countries can expand sanctions targeting financial transactions believed to benefit the Iranian government.
