Oil company executives are contacting the White House, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance to protest against allowing Iran to charge fees for transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz as a condition for peace talks, says one industry adviser anonymously.
— We didn't have to do this before and I thought we had already won this war. Wherever there is access to administration, the question arises: what are you actually planning? – he reports. As he adds, the answer that administration representatives convey to industry experts “is not complete ignorance.” — It's more like, “Yeah, okay, we'll write it down.”
Representatives of the oil industry met with senior State Department officials on Wednesday morning to present their concerns, reveals one of the meeting participants.
Among the arguments raised by the industry [jest to, że]: meeting Iran's demand would mean an additional 2 million 500 thousand. hole. (PLN 9,138,000) for each transport in the form of fees and higher insurance rates – costs that will be passed on to consumers. Giving Iran control of Hormuz could set a precedent for countries such as Singapore or Türkiye, which could collect tolls on key trade routes such as the Strait of Malacca or the Bosphorus. Paying the fee may also expose companies to violating sanctions against Iranian officials.
The companies also addressed Trump directly, but in a much gentler way, the source adds.
— The president is extremely sensitive to how the success of this war will be assessed, so putting pressure on him at this point is risky. – he said. — But despite caution, the White House hears the voice of the industry, he says.
A White House spokesman did not directly respond to questions about whether the administration is talking to industry representatives and how it intends to address their concerns. Instead, he refers to an afternoon press conference during which spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the administration was working on a “more reasonable” set of Iranian proposals.
Tehran “presented a more reasonable and very different, condensed plan to the president and his team,” Leavitt said at the conference, without specifying what had changed in it. — The president's red lines, ending uranium enrichment in Iran, remain unchanged. The very thought that President Trump would accept an Iran wish list as an agreement is completely absurd – she added.
Vance and the State Department's offices have not yet responded to requests for comment. Leavitt announced during the conference that Vance was going to Islamabad to participate in the negotiations.
With one-fifth of the world's oil supplies entering the market through the Strait of Hormuz, allowing Iran to control ship flows will significantly raise costs – and legal risks – for companies that are used to freely navigating this route.
According to media reports, Iran is already demanding that tankers passing through the strait pay tolls [chińskich] yuan or cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday Trump said the United States would use Iran's 10-point plan — which includes a $2 million fee. (PLN 7,311,000) from each ship – as a basis for a permanent ceasefire.
“I expect there will be strong resistance, and not just from the oil industry,” says Jason Bennett, an energy and international law attorney at Baker Botts. Hormuz is an open international waterway. So far, no one has recognized Iran's legal right to control the Strait of Hormuz. I don't see [szans]for anyone to accept it.”
On Tuesday, Trump said the US was “very close to reaching a final agreement on lasting peace with Iran and peace in the Middle East,” adding: “We have received a 10-point proposal from Iran and we believe it can be a real basis for negotiations.”
Instead of opposing Iran's tolling, Trump publicly considered whether the U.S. could form a “joint venture” with Iran to administer those tolls.
“It's an idea that the president brought up,” Leavitt said during Wednesday's conference, referring to the idea of sharing fee revenues with Iran. — This is a topic that will be discussed further over the next two weeks. The president's immediate priority is to reopen the strait without any restrictions, regardless of form – whether through tolls or other barriers.
- Trump made a mess. Europe is left with a heavy bill for cleaning it up. “We don't have the strength.”
Despite the ceasefire announced on Tuesday evening, traffic in Hormuz is almost completely suspended, says Matt Smith, an analyst at Kpler, which deals with the analysis of commodity markets and ship tracking. Iran closed the strait again on Wednesday after Israel attacked its ally Lebanon.
Foreign diplomats also tried to express their concerns, although, as they claim, the White House has not been particularly interested in their opinion so far.
– What's next? Russian charges in the Arctic? Chinese toll in the South China Sea? – one of the diplomats from Asia accredited in Washington complains. — I suspect the world, especially Hormuz users, will protest against these ideas.
Other diplomats fear that Iran, left to its own devices, could collect tolls only on certain ships and allow others that are seeking political favors to pass through free of charge. A second Washington diplomat told POLITICO that “seven or more Malaysian-flagged ships” were allowed to pass through the strait “apparently free of charge.”
— Malaysia has always been very critical of Israel, long before the Strait of Hormuz crisis, so Tehran sees them as a friendly country, the diplomat said. — In addition, there is neutrality towards American-Israeli attacks, which probably helped too. All this maneuvering and taking care of good relations even with countries that the West does not like really pays off when difficult times come.
The Malaysian embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Most shipping companies do not intend to pay the fee, considering it unsustainable in the long term.
— Transit fee of $2 million. for the ship, 10 points provided for in the Iranian plan, is another potential for blackmail – comments Arthur Leichthammer, an expert at the Jacques Delors Center think tank from Berlin. — This would be an extremely costly concession, both politically and economically.
