At a time when the world is panicking over Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities linked to the South Pars gas field, marking a significant escalation in the war, the real geopolitical earthquake isn’t happening in the missile silos; it’s happening on the floor of the Iranian parliament.
While global headlines remain fixated on the smoke rising from Israeli strikes at the South Pars gas field, Tehran’s Parliament is quietly drafting a piece of legislation that might be more explosive than any warhead – a law to ‘tax’ the world’s most vital waterway.
The legislators in the Iranian Parliament aren’t debating how to build a better bomb; they are debating how to build a better business. Iran isn’t just threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important waterway, anymore. They are installing a cash register.
Iran’s considering transit fees on ships in Hormuz Strait
Iran is considering a proposal to levy transit fees on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a lawmaker said on Thursday, a potential attempt to monetise Tehran’s newfound grip over the critical waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied gas passes.
According to the Iranian Students’ News Agency, the lawmaker said parliament was considering a bill under which countries using the strait for shipping, energy transit and food supplies would be required to pay tolls and taxes to Iran, reported news agency Reuters.
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said “a new regime for the Strait of Hormuz” will follow the war’s eventual end, allowing Tehran to apply maritime restrictions on states that have sanctioned it.
“By using the strategic position of the Strait of Hormuz, we can sanction (the West) and prevent their ships from passing through this waterway,” Mohammad Mokhber said Thursday, according to Mehr news agency.
Related News |
The ultimate protection racket
In what can only be described as a masterstroke of ‘mafia-state’ economics, the proposed law would levy tolls on any commercial vessel seeking safe passage. It is the ultimate cartel move. Iran has looked at the paralyzed global supply chain and realized they don’t need to sink ships to win; they just need to rent the ocean back to the people who use it.
The logic is as brutal as it is mathematical. Currently, a tanker captain has two choices:
- The ‘free’ route: If a European or Asian oil tanker waits for a NATO warship to escort them, their maritime insurance premiums cost millions of dollars, and they still might catch a drone to the hull.
- The ‘Tehran’ route: Pay the sovereign tax.
The moment a shipping company pays the toll to Tehran, the missile threat instantly drops to zero. The Iranian Navy doesn’t just give them a receipt; they give a guarantee. For insurance underwriters, the choice is easy – paying a bribe is cheaper and more predictable than losing a vessel. With this masterstroke, Iran has positioned itself as the ultimate underwriter of the Persian Gulf.
The death of the ‘free’ ocean
In what can be called the death of the unipolar world, it doesn’t end in a nuclear apocalypse; it ends in a shakedown. The global south is watching. Beijing is watching. They have realised a hard truth: if the reigning empire can no longer protect the sea, the enemy will happily lease it to them.
It seems the free ocean is dead. The unipolar world wasn’t defeated by a bomb; it was bought out.
