Saturday, July 4, 2026

Iran: We’ll ‘definitely’ charge Hormuz fees, friendly nations may get ‘special treatment’


Iran: We’ll ‘definitely’ charge Hormuz fees, friendly nations may get ‘special treatment’


Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday



The Hamas terror group has decided to stall for time in negotiations for its disarmament and for the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza, recognizing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing the same due to the upcoming Knesset election, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The outlet cites an internal document discussed in the past few days by the Palestinian jihadist movement. It says Hamas believes Netanyahu views any concession on Gaza as political suicide, and that he therefore is intentionally stalling in the indirect negotiations, which haven’t made meaningful progress in months.

Kan reports that the document reveals a proposal made to Hamas by mediators Qatar and Turkey, suggesting that the terror group show flexibility by making “tactical concessions,” including on its weapons. The mediators expected Netanyahu to reject any reciprocal concession due to electoral concerns, resulting in Hamas appearing to be the more cooperative side.

However, the report adds, Hamas decided after extensive discussions to reject this proposal, fearing that any concession it makes will become a starting point for future pressure to make further concessions.

Therefore, Hamas decided to adopt a strategy mirroring Israel’s — to stall for time until the end of 2026, and to see how the next Israeli government shapes up, the report



Iran’s ambassador to China insists that new fees will be charged to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz — an idea rejected by Washington — while assuring that “friendly” nations would receive special treatment.

The initial deal struck between Iran and the United States to end their war stipulated that commercial ships would transit the strait free of charge for 60 days, but it remains unclear what will be in place after that period.

Iranian Ambassador Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli tells the World Peace Forum in Beijing that his country is working in “collaboration and cooperation” with Oman on “new arrangements” for the vital waterway.

“As a country where the Hormuz is part of its territorial waters, we will definitely charge service fees,” Azli says in translated remarks, while insisting such fees would not be a “toll.”

“These new arrangements will be concerning guaranteeing the security of passage through the Straits of Hormuz, supervision of the passage of the vessels… and also guaranteeing and dealing with the environmental consequences of the massive number of ships,” he says.

“We will definitely consider special treatment for the countries that were friendly to us and specially stood by us during the hard times,” he adds.


The United States has said any final deal will bar Iran from charging any sort of fee for passage in the waterway, casting the difference between service fees and tolls as mere semantics.











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