US sanctions Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority Hormuz

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran’s newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority, escalating a dispute over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Treasury Department announced the sanctions on Wednesday, accusing the authority of acting on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and imposing illegitimate tolls on commercial vessels.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority condemned the sanctions and vowed to continue its operations without interruption. The authority asserted that the U.S. had failed to gain control of the strait through military or diplomatic means and would not succeed through sanctions either. It said it would continue to review transit requests and grant passage permits to what it described as non-hostile vessels, despite what it called provocative U.S. actions in the region. The authority also stated that statistics from its first month of operations would be published soon.

U.S. officials allege the authority was created to manage vessel passage requests in coordination with the IRGC and its navy, directing traffic and collecting fees. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions...