Iran is setting up an agency to tax ships passing through Hormuz even as it negotiates a peace deal
Iran has created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, a shipping data company reported Thursday, as Tehran said it was reviewing the latest U.S. proposals for ending the war. The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. Still, hope that the two-month conflict could soon be over buoyed international markets. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the Islamic Republic was reviewing messages from Pakistan, which is mediating peace negotiations, but Iran “has not yet reached a conclusion, and no response has been given to the U.S. side,” Iranian state TV reported. Late in the day, semiofficial Iranian news agencies said explosions were heard in southern Iran near Bandar Abbas. The reports from the Fars and Tasnim agencies did not identify the source of the blasts. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Middle East peace efforts at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV, whose opposition to the Iran war has led to open sparring with President Donald Trump. Administration has sent mixed messages The Trump administration has sent mixed messages on its strategy to end the war. A tenuous ceasefire and previous declarations that military operations were over have given way to new threats of bombing if Tehran does not accept a deal that allows for resumption of oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict. Trump also suspended an attempt by the U.S. military to open a safe passage for commercial ships through the strait, saying the pause would allow more time to reach a peace agreement. An official in Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the kingdom and U.S. ally refused to support Trump’s effort to reopen the strait by force. The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has largely held since April 8. But in-person talks bet