“Iran better not be charging a toll”

“They better not be doing it, and if they do, stop doing it immediately“, declared the president in a message loaded with capital letters and exclamation points.

The origin of this new diplomatic crisis is found in the complaint that Iran has tried to impose a rate of $1 for each barrel of oil that passes through the area.

This measure, which Tehran justifies it as a “security fee”has been received in Washington as a declaration of economic war.

According to statements by Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for the Union of Iranian Petroleum Exporters, reported by the Financial TimesTehran has taken a bold and provocative step.

The regime will require that the payment of these tolls be made exclusively in cryptocurrencies.

Toll as a strategy

The payment of this toll is a strategic move designed to maintain control over Hormuz during the current two-week ceasefire with the US.

The move would allow Iran to process income outside the reach of the traditional financial system and the sanctions imposed by Washington.

For the Trump administration, this charge is illegal and constitutes a direct violation of freedom of navigation.

The Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtab Jameneiissued a statement on April 9 in which it assured that Iran will bring the “management” of the Strait of Hormuz to a “new phase”.

This announcement is consistent with the strategy observed in recent weeks: use the strait as a perpetual leverage pointeven beyond the end of hostilities.

Iran is taking surgical measures to exert control over maritime traffic, with the net effect of keeping oil prices artificially high.

By limiting the flow of crude oil, the Iranian government seeks to generate economic pressure on the United States in order to gain advantages in current peace negotiations.

Designated routes

A high-level Iranian source revealed to Russian state media that Iran will not allow more than 15 ships to transit the strait per day during the ceasefire.

This quota is just a fraction of the normal traffic in the area, guaranteeing a constant bottleneck in the world’s energy supply.

Additionally, Iran’s Ports and Maritime Affairs Organization has published charts instructing ship captains to follow strictly designated entry and exit routes.

These routes, coordinated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC), have the particularity of divert international traffic to territorial waters controlled directly by Iran.

The Iranian justification for this diversion is security. The regime warns that the ships run a extreme risk of hitting naval mines if they leave the marked channels.

This threat is not insubstantial: US officials confirmed on March 23 the presence of at least a dozen Iranian mines in the straitturning transit into a logistical Russian roulette.

Impact on crude oil

In response to Donald Trump’s threats against Iran, the price of Brent oil, which we use as a reference in Europe, has risen by 0,8% first thing this Friday.

This rise, located above the $96.7 per barrel. To understand the magnitude of the jump: before the US and Israeli attacks on Iran began, the price was at just 72 dollars.

In the United States, the West Texas barrel has also become more expensive $98.4.

In this battle of wills between the threats from the White House and Iran’s ‘new strategic phase’, freedom of navigation in the strait continues to be the great hostage of an economic war that continues to escalate.