Two vessels have transited the Strait of Hormuz for the first time after Iran agreed to reopen the crucial shipping lane under a ceasefire arrangement, maritime monitoring firm Marine Traffic said on Wednesday. “The Greek-owned bulk carrier NJ Earth crossed the Strait at 08:44 UTC, while the Liberia-flagged Daytona Beach transited earlier at 06:59 UTC, shortly after departing Bandar Abbas at 05:28 UTC”, Marine Traffic said on X.
Here's what Araghchi said on Hormuz
The development comes an overnight ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran for a two-week ceasefire. During this time, the movement through the Strait “will be possible via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X.
As per the available tracking data, the Greek-owned vessel kept its transponder active while navigating the strait along an Iranian-approved corridor near Larak Island, a route widely used by ships over the past three weeks.
Shipping companies to pay tolls in cryptocurrency for oil tankers
In the meantime, Iran said it will demand that shipping companies pay tolls in cryptocurrency for oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, as it seeks to retain control over passage through the key waterway during the two-week ceasefire. Iran said it will demand $1 per barrel on oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz — payment to be made in cryptocurrency.
Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Finacial Times that Iran wanted to collect tolling fees from any tanker passing and to assess each ship.
Hosseini says Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out through Hormuz
Hosseini said Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks aren’t used for transferring weapons.Hosseini’s statement suggest Iran will require any tankers to use the northerly route close to its coastline, raising questions over whether western or Gulf state-linked vessels will be willing to risk transit.
Earlier in the day, Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th-hour deal that allowed US President Donald Trump to pull back from his threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilisation.
Iran and Gulf Arab countries report new attacks after ceasefire
Hours after the announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday. It was not clear if the sporadic attacks would be enough to scuttle the deal, which US Vice President JD Vance called "fragile."
Even before the new strikes were reported, much about the deal was unclear as the sides presented vastly different visions of the terms. Iran said the deal would allow it to formalise its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but the terms were not clear, nor was whether ships would feel safe using the crucial transit lane for oil. It also was unclear whether any other country agreed to this condition.
Pakistan, which helped to mediate the deal, and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Israel said it would not, and strikes hit Beirut on Wednesday.
The fate of Iran's missile and nuclear programmes - the elimination of which were major objectives for the US and Israel in going to war - also remained unclear. Trump said the US would work with Iran to remove buried enriched uranium, though Iran did not confirm that.
In the streets of Tehran, pro-government demonstrators screamed: "Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!" after the ceasefire announcement and burned American and Israeli flags.
The chants underscored the anger animating hard-liners, who have been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptic battle with the United States. Trump warned Tuesday that "a whole civilisation will die tonight," if a deal wasn't reached.
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