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Iran Conflict 2026
24APR

Majlis approves Hormuz toll bill

2 min read
11:11UTC

A key Majlis committee approved the Hormuz toll bill, advancing legislation that would permanently ban US and Israeli vessels and require fees in Iranian rial from all other shipping. Once codified, the toll becomes reversible only through domestic political process ; no future ceasefire can unwind it.

ConflictDeveloping
Key takeaway

Committee approval advances legislation that would make Hormuz's contested status a matter of Iranian domestic law, not merely military posture.

The Majlis committee approved the Hormuz toll legislation on 1 April, advancing a bill that permanently bans US and Israeli vessels from the strait and requires fees in Iranian rial from all other shipping. The bill had been drafted in parliament on Day 25, moved to committee stage on Day 32, and has now cleared committee. Full parliamentary vote, Guardian Council review, and presidential signature remain.

There is a fundamental difference between the IRGC imposing a toll because it controls a strait and the Iranian parliament enacting a law that makes the toll a statutory requirement. The first is a military fact reversible by military defeat. The second is a legal instrument reversible only by domestic political process. Iran had already demanded Hormuz sovereignty as a formal peace condition ; the legislation converts that negotiating demand into permanent law.

The bill bans US and Israeli vessels explicitly and requires fees in Iranian rial, forcing buyers to transact in a sanctioned currency. The NPT withdrawal bill is advancing on the same legislative track . Both bills are designed to survive any ceasefire: a ceasefire can stop the shooting, but it cannot repeal domestic Iranian legislation.

The IRGC's toll system had already been operating since around Day 12, with Chinese state ships paying and crossing . Codifying the practice into permanent law removes any ambiguity about whether a future Iranian government could unilaterally rescind it. If Trump withdraws in two to three weeks without securing this bill's reversal, the US leaves behind a legal architecture that makes Hormuz permanently contested.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

The Iranian parliament is voting on a law that would permanently charge ships money to use the Strait of Hormuz ; a narrow channel through which about one in five barrels of the world's oil passes. Right now, Iran is blocking the strait militarily during the war. This law would make that blockade permanent and legal under Iranian law, even after the war ends. American and Israeli ships would be banned outright. This matters because there is a big difference between Iran blocking the strait with soldiers, which can be reversed, and Iran blocking it with a law, which can only be reversed by Iran itself choosing to change the law.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

The toll bill was drafted as a direct response to US and Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure . It converts an emergency military response into a permanent economic instrument, institutionalising the leverage Iran discovered it holds over global energy markets.

What could happen next?
  • Precedent

    First instance of a state attempting to codify transit fees for an international strait into domestic law, potentially triggering a global UNCLOS legal challenge.

    Long term · Assessed
  • Consequence

    A ceasefire that leaves the Hormuz toll law in place fails to address the economic cause of the oil price spike.

    Medium term · Assessed
  • Risk

    Guardian Council and presidential signature stages create multiple veto points, but each ratification stage makes repeal politically harder.

    Short term · Reported
First Reported In

Update #54 · Trump declares victory and withdrawal

Reuters· 1 Apr 2026
Read original
Different Perspectives
International human rights monitors (NetBlocks, IHR, Hengaw)
International human rights monitors (NetBlocks, IHR, Hengaw)
NetBlocks recorded 1,704 cumulative hours of near-total internet blackout for roughly 90 million Iranians on Day 74, while IHR documented ongoing executions under emergency provisions. These organisations are the only active monitoring windows into a civilian population cut off from the global internet for 71 consecutive days.
UK / France coalition
UK / France coalition
The Royal Navy confirmed HMS Dragon's Hormuz deployment on its own website on 11 May, converting a press-reported presence into declared force posture; UK and French defence ministers hosted a coalition meeting the same day. Britain and France are now the only named contributors to a Hormuz escort mission all five allies Trump originally asked had declined.
Saudi Aramco / Gulf producers
Saudi Aramco / Gulf producers
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned on 11 May that a Hormuz closure could remove 100 million barrels of weekly supply from global markets (roughly 15 million barrels per day for a week), a figure that dwarfs any OPEC+ swing capacity. The warning functions as both a price-floor signal and a public pressure on Washington to protect transit.
Beijing / Chinese Government
Beijing / Chinese Government
China has not publicly acknowledged the four Hong Kong-registered entities designated on 11 May or extended MOFCOM's Blocking Rules cover to HK-domiciled firms. Xi Jinping hosts Trump on 14–15 May having already de-risked state-bank balance sheets via NFRA's quiet loan halt, entering the summit partially compliant before any negotiation.
Tehran / Iranian Government
Tehran / Iranian Government
Foreign Minister Araghchi described Iran's 10-point counter-proposal as 'reasonable and responsible' via spokesman Baqaei on 11 May, and widened the mediator pool by meeting Turkish, Egyptian, and Dutch counterparts in a single day. Tehran is buying procedural runway while Trump's verbal rejection went unmatched by any written US counter.
Trump White House
Trump White House
Trump called the ceasefire 'on massive life support' and dismissed Iran's 10-point counter-proposal as 'a piece of garbage' on 11 May, while departing for Beijing two days later with no signed Iran instrument to show Congress. The verbal maximum and the paper void coexist: the administration is running a legal pressure campaign through Treasury while the president free-lances the rhetoric.