Treasury Warns Shippers on Strait of Hormuz Toll Payments

The treasury warned on Friday that shippers paying tolls or other fees to Iran for passage through the Strait of Hormuz risk sanctions. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the warning applies to US and non-US persons and covers payments made for safe passage through a waterway that carries about one-fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas maritime shipments.

OFAC said the risk applies regardless of payment method. Shippers could face sanctions exposure if Iran asks for fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments, including transfers framed as charitable donations to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Bonyad Mostazafan, or Iranian embassy accounts.

OFAC names payment routes

“OFAC is issuing ‌this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting ‌guarantees ‌from, the Iranian regime for safe passage,” the advisory said. “These risks exist regardless of payment method.”

The warning lands while the government of Iran and the International Revolutionary Guard Corps remain under US sanctions. It also comes as the Strait of Hormuz stays central to the flow of energy shipments, making even a fee demand a compliance issue for shipowners, charterers, and insurers that move cargo through the route.

Iran’s ceasefire push

Iranian state media reported on Friday that Tehran had sent a new proposal for a lasting ceasefire to the Trump administration. A White House spokesperson declined to confirm receipt of the proposal, but Anna Kelly said, “Trump has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, and negotiations continue to ensure the short- and long-term national security of the United States”.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, said on Friday that Tehran remains open to diplomacy with the US if Washington alters its “expansionist approach” and “threatening rhetoric”. The competing public positions leave shippers with a fresh warning from Washington while the diplomatic channel remains active in name, even as payment demands tied to passage now carry a direct sanctions risk.

Strait leverage after February 28

The warning fits a broader pattern that emerged after the US and Israel began launching attacks on Iran on February 28. Iran has previously proposed charging fees or tolls for vessels seeking to pass through the strait in proposals to end the war, and Washington has repeatedly rejected the prospect. The advisory gives that dispute a practical edge: any ship that pays Iran for passage now has to weigh the payment itself as a sanctions trigger, not just the route it takes.

With US and Iranian ceasefire talks described as stalled and a third week of blockade underway, the next pressure point is whether Tehran keeps testing toll proposals and whether Washington widens the sanctions warning to cover more intermediaries handling payment requests.