Trump sanctions Iranian entity created to collect Hormuz tolls
Investing.com– The Donald Trump administration on Wednesday sanctioned Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority– an entity created by Tehran to potentially collect fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that the PGSA had been added to the Office of Assets Control’s list of sanctioned entities, citing links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp.
The sanctions entail measures against shipowners for arranging transits with the PGSA or paying tolls or fees to the organization.
Iran had set up the PGSA in early-May as an attempt to formalize control of Hormuz. The country claimed control of the waters from the port of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates through Kuh-e Mobarak in Iran.
The U.S. sanctions come shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed Iranian state media reports that the country had obtained an unofficial draft agreement that would allow Iran and Oman to jointly manage traffic through Hormuz.
The framework deal would see Iran restoring commercial shipping through Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month.
But Trump largely rejected the notion of Iran and Oman controlling Hormuz, stating that the waterway was international waters and was open to all.
Hormuz has remained a major sticking point in the latest conflict, with Tehran having effectively blocked the passage since the onset of U.S. and Israeli hostilities in late-February.
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The move disrupted roughly a fifth of global oil supplies, causing prices to rise sharply. Beyond oil, disruptions in broader shipping activity in Hormuz also caused economic disruption across the globe.
A deal to reopen Hormuz in the near-term appeared unlikely, especially as the U.S. and Iran re-engaged open hostilities this week, trading air strikes and further undermining an early-April ceasefire.
