Overview
- Iran’s deputy parliamentary security official said on Tuesday that merchant vessels from India, China, Iraq and Qatar are exempted from Tehran’s wider restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz.
- Tehran has told Indian and Chinese ships they must pay transit fees while Qatari vessels will be allowed passage without charges and Iraq’s fee status remains unspecified.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has reported multiple tankers and a tugboat burning after striking naval mines on routes Tehran calls “unauthorised,” but officials have not released vessel names or independent verification of casualties or damage.
- Shipping firms and insurers are holding back from resuming normal passage, saying they need clear operational guarantees and independent security assessments before risking higher insurance and rerouting costs.
- The exemptions come as diplomatic channels, including Qatari mediation, push to avert wider U.S.–Iran escalation and as international bodies record dozens of attacks on merchant ships since the conflict began, raising risks to energy supplies and seafarers.