Strait of Hormuz under Iranian control, tolls to be paid in Iranian currency: Haji Babeyi

The Strait of Hormuz is under Iran’s full control and ships must pay tolls in the Iranian currency ‘rial’ to pass through it, the country’s deputy speaker of parliament, Haji Babeyi, said. The BBC reported this information in a report on Sunday (April 12), citing Iranian news agency Mehr News.
It said that high-level peace talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad ended without an agreement. One of the main obstacles in the talks was the issue of controlling the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. About 20 percent of the world’s total oil and LNG (liquefied natural gas) is transported through this waterway.
The Iranian news agency Mehr News reported that the deputy speaker of the country’s parliament, Haji Babeyi, called the Strait of Hormuz a ‘red line’ or final limit for Tehran. He made it clear that the strait is under full Iranian control and that ships must pay a toll in the Iranian currency, the rial, to pass through it.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump claimed in a post on social media on Saturday (April 11) that the waterway would be “opened soon”. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that two of its military ships had already passed through the strait. They claimed that the move was part of a wider operation to remove mines from the sea.
However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has directly rejected the US claim. It has warned that strict measures will be taken against any military ship attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The AFP news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guard said that ordinary civilian ships may be allowed to pass through it under certain conditions.