Iran plans to limit ship crossings in the Strait of Hormuz to about one dozen a day and charge transit fees, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday.
The report noted that as Tehran moves to tighten its grip on the world's most important oil shipping route, ships must now arrange toll payments in advance with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and pay in cryptocurrency or the Chinese yuan.
Before the war, more than 100 ships crossed the strait daily without any coordination with Iranian authorities. On Wednesday, only four vessels were allowed through, the lowest recorded in April, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by the WSJ.
Saying that the strait carries roughly 20% of the world's daily oil supply, it also pointed to the Gulf energy producers and countries' alarm about the new arrangements as they rely on it for fuel imports.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called any Iranian toll system illegal and dangerous, though he suggested countries most dependent on the strait should lead any pushback.
"The Strait of Hormuz has definitely become as important as the missiles and the nuclear program for them," Danny Citrinowicz, a former senior official in Israeli defense intelligence, told the Journal.
"For them, control is a must," he added.
