The price of passage: the legality of Iranian transit charges in the Strait of Hormuz under the Law of the Sea

The joint US–Israel strikes against Iran produced one of the most consequential navigational crises in modern history, centred on the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil supply transits daily. Following military hostilities, Iran imposed transit conditions on commercial shipping, and the Iranian Parliament enacted legislation establishing a toll regime for passage through the Strait. This article examines whether a coastal State may lawfully levy charges on foreign vessels transiting an international strait. It argues, on three independent and cumulative grounds, that Iran’s toll regime is unlawful: it violates Article 26 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, contravenes the customary international law principle of unimpeded navigation confirmed in the Corfu Channel case, and constitutes an abuse of coastal State regulatory authority. The article further analyses Iran’s possible arguments and the lex specialis character of wartime restrictions, and proposes a cooperative governance framework modelled on the Malacca Strait Cooperative Mechanism as a lawful and sustainable alternative.