Iran’s ambassador to China says Beijing and other countries friendly to Tehran will receive “special considerations” under planned Strait of Hormuz service fees, sharpening the fight over whether Iran can turn the waterway’s reopening into a political loyalty test.
Bloomberg, via the Financial Post, reported that Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli made the comments Saturday at the World Peace Forum in Beijing. He said Iran views the strait as a matter of “national security” after the four-month war with the United States and Israel, and that new arrangements for the waterway would be developed with Oman.
“We will definitely have special considerations for China, because China is a friendly country,” Fazli said, according to the report. “Special treatment we should award to countries which are friendly to us.”
The comments matter because they move the Hormuz dispute beyond the basic question of whether ships can pass. Iran is now openly suggesting that the cost or treatment of passage could vary by political relationship, even as the United States, Gulf Arab states, and shipping governments push for non-discriminatory access through one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
Iran is framing Hormuz fees as security, not tolls
Fazli said any fees would be tied to safe passage and environmental costs, and argued that enforcement would not violate the international law of the sea. But the line between legal service fees and prohibited tolls is exactly where the crisis is getting harder.
The Straits Times, also carrying Bloomberg’s report, said the United States and Gulf Arab countries insist Iran and Oman cannot impose charges of any kind for the waterway. The same report said some European nations now accept that ships may have to pay some kind of fee, but have pressed Iran and Oman not to discriminate by nationality.
That is the new pressure point. A neutral service-fee system would already be controversial. A system that gives better terms to China or other countries deemed friendly to Tehran would make the reopening of Hormuz look less like maritime administration and more like strategic leverage.
China has the most at stake
China buys almost all of Iran’s oil exports, according to the Bloomberg report, and Beijing has called for unhindered shipping through the strait. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Friday that smooth passage would be in the interests of all parties.
That gives China a complicated role. Beijing wants energy flows protected and has avoided fully entering the war on Iran’s side. But Iran’s offer of special treatment gives China a potential benefit from a system Washington and Gulf capitals are trying to resist.
Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies moved through the Strait of Hormuz. That means even small changes in routing rules, fees, security assurances, or political access can matter far beyond the Gulf.
Ships are still turning back
The diplomatic dispute is happening while traffic remains unstable. Bloomberg reported that at least eight ships attempting to leave the Persian Gulf along the Omani coast turned back between Friday and Saturday, a sign that the waterway’s reopening remains difficult even after last month’s interim peace framework.
Al Jazeera separately reported Friday that Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned ships against using unapproved Hormuz routes, saying violations would be met with an “immediate and forceful response.” The report said the warning came after U.S. Central Command hosted a security dialogue in Bahrain where regional leaders backed the free flow of commerce through the strait.
Al Jazeera also reported that transits have risen since the June 17 memorandum of understanding, but remain far below prewar levels. MarineTraffic data cited in the report showed at least 45 vessels crossed Wednesday, compared with about 130 daily crossings before the conflict.
That gap is why Fazli’s comments land hard. The issue is no longer only whether Hormuz reopens. It is who gets to define the rules, whether those rules treat ships equally, and whether Iran can reward friendly powers while charging others more for access to a waterway global markets cannot easily bypass.