Iran has officially announced the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a new body tasked with managing ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz and collecting fees from vessels seeking to pass through the waterway. The Supreme National Security Council launched the authority's official account on Monday, with the Revolutionary Guards' navy amplifying the announcement. Ships wishing to transit must apply via the PGSA's official email, submitting ownership details, insurance documents, crew manifests, cargo declarations, and intended routing before a permit is issued and a fee paid. No official tariff has been published, but reports indicate some vessels have already paid as much as $2 million per transit, with payments made in Chinese yuan.

The Strait of Hormuz, roughly 35 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, is one of the world's most critical maritime chokepoints, carrying approximately one-fifth of global seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas shipments in peacetime, along with fertiliser and other key commodities. Iran has largely blocked commercial shipping through the strait since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on 28 February. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 8 April, though the US has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports. The PGSA, which functions as an administrative interface with the IRGC Navy — designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US and the EU — appears designed to replace a grey market of fraudulent operators who had been selling unofficial transit paperwork for cryptocurrency since March.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards also signalled on Monday that undersea fibre-optic cables passing through the strait could be brought under a similar permit regime, citing Iran's claimed sovereignty over its territorial seabed. New billboards in Tehran's metro system have claimed Iran could generate up to $100 billion annually from Hormuz revenues, a figure that has circulated widely in Iranian media. The legal basis for the fee regime remains fiercely contested: under UNCLOS — the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Iran signed but never ratified — the strait falls under the transit passage principle, guaranteeing uninterrupted international shipping. The US, Gulf states, and European countries have all rejected the charges as illegal.

The announcement came as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict showed signs of both activity and strain. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed that Tehran had responded to a new US proposal, with communications continuing through Pakistani mediation. Iranian reports described Washington's demands — including limiting Iran to a single active nuclear site and transferring its enriched uranium stockpile to the US — as excessive, while Tehran's own demands include the lifting of long-standing sanctions, the release of frozen assets abroad, and war reparations. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed cautious optimism about the resumption of formal talks. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sought to frame the diplomatic engagement positively, writing on X that "dialogue does not mean surrender" and that Iran would negotiate "with dignity, authority, and the preservation of the nation's rights".