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Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and, beyond it, the Indian Ocean.
How it works
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, establishes transit passage for straits used for international navigation. As Ayesha Asim explains, Articles 37 and 38 provide for ships and aircraft to pass between parts of the high seas or exclusive economic zones; bordering states are not supposed to suspend or unnecessarily impede that passage.
Scope and limitations
International navigation does not eliminate every regulatory power of a coastal state. Asim identifies maritime safety, environmental protection and prevention of unlawful activities as purposes for which Iran may have legitimate authority to regulate navigation. That possibility does not establish the legality of any particular restriction.
Applying the transit-passage framework to Hormuz involves a treaty-status qualification. Asim describes the strait as widely regarded as an international-navigation strait, but reports that Iran signed UNCLOS in 1982 without ratifying it. Her analysis distinguishes obligations of treaty parties from rules that may also bind through customary international law, whose application must be considered provision by provision.
Background and related concepts
A charge merely for passing through the strait raises a different legal question from payment for an identifiable service. In Asim's assessment, a general compulsory passage toll would face serious legal difficulties, while a charge genuinely tied to navigational assistance or another specific maritime service requires a different analysis. This is a legal assessment, not evidence that a particular fee system operates.
References
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