Iran's Supreme National Security Council announces new body to manage Strait of Hormuz

JAKARTA - Iran's supreme security agency on Monday announced the formation of a new body to manage the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by Tehran and wants to charge ships that pass through it.

In a post on its official X account, the Supreme National Security Council shared a post for the strait authorities stating that they would provide "real-time updates on #Hormuz Strait operations and the latest developments," as reported by Al Arabiya and AFP (19/5).

The account of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also shared the same post.

It is not clear what the new body will do, but earlier this month Iran's English-language television station, Press TV, said the body was a "system to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz" and that ships passing through the strait were sent "regulations" from info@pgsa.ir.

Iran has largely blocked shipments through the vital strait since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

Iran's control of the waterway has rattled global markets and given Tehran significant leverage, while the United States has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.

In peacetime, the pipeline accounts for about a fifth of global shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas, along with other vital commodities including fertilizer.

Since the war began, Iran has repeatedly said maritime traffic through the strait "will not return to pre-war status" and last month said it had received its first revenue from tolls on the waterway.

Last Saturday, the head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Commission, Ebrahim Azizi, said Iran "has prepared a professional mechanism to manage traffic" through the strait, adding that the mechanism would be "announced soon."