Iran says it will introduce maritime fees in the Strait of Hormuz in two months, after a 60-day negotiation window triggered by a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding. The plan comes as fighting continues in the region, a planned signing ceremony was canceled
Iran’s warning sounded less like a negotiation and more like a deadline: in two months, Tehran plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
The announcement arrived after a 60-day period of talks set in motion by the signing of a memorandum of understanding. Tehran framed the deal as a historic victory over the United States, asserting that the strait is under its control. It also signaled it would not accept a European plan for a naval mission to escort ships through the channel.
Those claims landed in a week when the immediate pressure on shipping had briefly eased. The United States lifted its blockade of Iran, and oil tankers began moving freely through the strait.
Even as ships could move, the broader picture remained unstable. On Thursday morning, Israeli drone attacks and artillery shelling continued. Hezbollah said it was responsible for attacks against Israeli forces in the Kfar Tebnit-Ali al-Taher area in recent days.
Israeli leaders also tied the talks to their own red lines. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would maintain the security zone in south Lebanon as long as “our security needs require it. ” referencing more than 600 sq km of Lebanese territory occupied by Israeli troops along the border. Netanyahu also said Israel would continue to adhere to the “supreme objective” of not allowing Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran, for its part, insisted that the deal hinges on Lebanon’s territorial integrity and requires a full Israeli withdrawal, making Donald Trump accountable for Israel’s withdrawal.
Trump said Thursday afternoon that the U.S. expects “a complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel.” On Truth Social, he encouraged commitment to negotiations “to beautifully unfold.”
Inside Tehran, the deal also received approval at the highest level. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei approved the agreement with the United States and endorsed direct negotiations with Trump’s team. Khamenei said Trump “used all kinds of levers” to secure the deal “out of desperation.” Khamenei has not been seen in public since he took office in March following the killing of his father.
The agreement itself is already drawing political pushback, including within Israel. An op-ed in The Times of Israel argued the U.S.-Israel war on Iran was lost due to “US presidential weakness.” JD Vance. meanwhile. stepped forward to defend Trump. Speaking during a White House press briefing, Vance said, “Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who’s sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. ” and scolded Israeli critics. adding: “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government. I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”.
But the most immediate sign of friction came in the choreography of diplomacy. A planned formal ceremony marking the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran on Friday was canceled.
Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s counterpart, have already personally signed the document, translated into English and Farsi. With the ceremony scrapped. Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan’s prime minister and the chief mediator. will not travel to Switzerland—an outcome framed in the region as a blow to Pakistan’s chance to share in the global spotlight.
Iran said technical-level talks would go ahead at the Qatari-owned Bürgenstock mountain resort by Lake Lucerne. The talks will be the first direct meeting between the two sides since they met in Islamabad on 12 April. The agenda is to implement the 14-clause memorandum. including how to lift sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and ensure that commercial traffic starts to flow freely through the strait of Hormuz.
Still, the idea of “freedom” through the strait is where Tehran’s approach begins to diverge from what many outside Iran may want. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator, said the strait needs to be managed, and that management would come at a cost.
Saudi Arabia publicly challenged that direction. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said, “The management of the strait was working fine before the conflict. There were no issues. Ships were navigating freely. There was no safety issue. There was no environmental issue.” He added: “So why should we now. as a result of a conflict. accept some novel arrangement that is going to be imposed on it?. That, to me, doesn’t make sense. So I think we need to go back to the way it was. and that worked fine. and that should be the end of it.”.
The UAE also weighed in. Muath Alwari. the UAE’s director of policy planning. said the UAE was arguably the recipient of the most Iranian strikes during the war. with attacks targeting hotels. tourist sites and civilian infrastructure. He said the UAE’s relationship with Israel got stronger during the war. as it found Israel to be a solid defence partner. and that engagement with Israel would deepen. Alwari said: “It does not change our calculus that motivated us in the very beginning to pursue the Abraham accords.” The Abraham accords normalised relations between the UAE and Israel.
The Gulf reactions landed as Iran’s foreign ministry began the long process of repairing ties with Gulf allies. Tehran hopes the Gulf will contribute substantially to a planned $350bn Iran construction fund, which the U.S. has agreed to establish and which is supposed to attract largely private-sector investors in the region.
On the economic side, Iran’s own officials stressed that sanctions relief will not automatically erase the damage. Seyed Ali Madanizadeh, Iran’s economic minister, said the U.S. waiver on Iran’s oil exports would not produce an economic bonanza. He said experts expect only a small increase in output in the short term. Madanizadeh also said the war caused a significant decrease in revenues. a drastic drop in oil income. and that this intensified the budget imbalance—adding. “It’s not like everything will just return to normal.”.
The sequence is stark: a blockade lifted and oil tankers allowed through a critical chokepoint, followed by Iran’s insistence that the route will now carry a price of its own—while Israel and Hezbollah keep trading attacks and Gulf nations debate whether “management” is necessary at all.
For now, the negotiations move forward in Switzerland’s orbit, with technical talks set for Bürgenstock and the 14-clause memorandum as the focal point. But the next pressure point is already being sketched: the strait’s terms of access, not just its access itself.
Iran Strait of Hormuz maritime fees U.S.-Iran memorandum sanctions oil exports Masoud Pezeshkian Donald Trump Benjamin Netanyahu Hezbollah Lebanon ceasefire Bürgenstock talks Saudi Arabia UAE Abraham Accords