Iranian lawmaker says four nations’ ships exempt in Hormuz

Iranian lawmaker Amir Hayat Moghadam said ships from India, China, Iraq and Qatar are exempt from Tehran’s transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping route connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. His remarks describe Iran’s policy, but the reports do not independently establish how the exemptions are being applied to vessels in practice. Moghadam, deputy chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said the exemptions reflected Iran’s interests and arrangements with the countries concerned. He said the measure for Indian ships was intended to facilitate medicine imports from India, while the exemption for Chinese vessels was aimed at securing political support from Beijing. The lawmaker said Indian and Chinese ships pay transit fees and Qatari vessels cross without charge. He did not specify whether Iraqi ships are charged. The reported exemptions from restrictions therefore do not mean that all four countries’ vessels are free of transit fees. The remarks come amid restrictions on commercial traffic through the strait. The reporting describes passage for other vessels as subject to Iranian controls,...