U.S. warns shippers against paying Iran for Hormuz transit fees

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued an alert Friday warning shipping companies that any payment to Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz could trigger American sanctions.

The warning puts global shipping firms in a legal bind as Iran, blockaded by the U.S. Navy since April 13, has demanded fees from vessels seeking alternate coastal routes — a dispute centered on a waterway that carries about one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas trade.

Iran began operating what officials have described as a "tollbooth" system after the U.S. naval blockade took effect April 13, halting Iranian tankers from leaving port and cutting off Tehran's oil revenue. Under the arrangement, ships are offered alternative routes closer to the Iranian shoreline in exchange for fees, according to The Korea Times. Since the blockade began, 45 commercial ships have been ordered to turn around.

The OFAC alert listed a wide range of prohibited payment methods, including cash transfers, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, in-kind payments, charitable donations and transactions conducted at Iranian embassies, the Korea Times reported.

President Donald Trump, speaking Friday, expressed frustration with the stalled diplomatic process. "They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens," Trump said. He also described Iran's leadership as "very disjointed." A three-week ceasefire between the two countries has been holding, though both sides have accused each other of violations. Iran has rejected the premise of Trump's latest ceasefire proposals.

The standoff began Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched military operations against Iran, which responded by closing the strait and later implementing the fee-based transit system. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage between Iran and Oman, carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and natural gas trade.

In a separate development, Narges Mohammadi — the Nobel Prize-winning rights lawyer imprisoned in Iran — was transferred from prison to a hospital in the northwestern city of Zanjan in what family members described as a critical health emergency. "Until the angiography is done, it is not possible to determine what her main illness currently is," her husband, Taghi Rahmani, said in a voice message shared with The Associated Press.

Iranian authorities also executed two men convicted of spying for Israel on Saturday, according to the judiciary's Mizanonline news outlet. The men were identified as Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh. Iran has hanged more than a dozen people on espionage and terrorism charges in recent weeks, the Korea Times reported.

As global energy markets watch the standoff, shipping companies now face competing legal risks — potential sanctions from Washington and potential security threats from Tehran — over a chokepoint neither side appears ready to relinquish.