Iranian parliament is preparing a bill to charge foreign ships passing through the strait of Hormuz as a part of their reaction to US sanctions, a member said on Sunday.
"This plan does not include countries, which don't recognize the US sanctions against Iran," The chairman of the committee Amir Hossein Ghazi Zadeh Hashemi has noted.
Following the US State department’s designation of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization back in April, Iranian parliament formed a fraction under the title of "The Countermeasures of the US Hostile Behaviors " that has passed ten plans since then.
Hashemi told Iran’s local media that "one of these plans is to charge ships cruising through the waterways of Persian Gulf, including the strait of Hormuz, where Iran provides them with security."
Strait of Hormuz located between Hormozgan Province in Iran and Musandam Governorate in Oman and it's considered as one of most the important naval passway in the world, connecting Persian Gulf to the Oman Sea.
The Iranian MP said, "when the ships cross our territorial waters, they will be subject to Iran's laws…so there would be no legal constraints to implement the plan."
According to the 1958 Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea with some minor changes in 1960's and 1980's, "Vessels are allowed to cruise freely through Iran and Oman territorial waters." Iran has signed this convention, but the Iranian parliament hasn't ratified it, yet.
"we also can define highest and lowest level of charges. We can charge some countries in highest level and others with lowest level of charge. We can also exempt some others. After all the economic interactions determine our decisions," he concluded.
