IRGC Announces New Maritime Control Zone in Strait of Hormuz — Charges Tolls Over $1M Per Vessel

Iran's IRGC unveiled a new official maritime control zone map for the Strait of Hormuz on May 4, 2026 — Day 66 — formalizing Iranian sovereignty claims over shipping lanes. The designated zone stretches between Qeshm Island and Umm Al Quwain (UAE) on one axis, and from Kuh-e Mobarak to south of Fujairah (UAE) on another — effectively placing Iran's claimed zone over the strait's central deep-water channel used by commercial tankers. Iran announced it would charge tolls of over $1 million per vessel for passage through the Iranian-controlled zone, framing the tolls as a navigation service fee rather than an act of war. The IRGC statement said all vessels seeking passage must first obtain prior authorization from Iranian maritime authorities. The announcement was published by Iran's Tasnim News Agency and represented a significant escalation beyond the de facto blockade that had been in place since early April: it claimed formal sovereign authority and introduced a revenue mechanism that analysts said could generate hundreds of millions of dollars if enforced. International maritime law experts immediately noted the IRGC zone violates UNCLOS Article 38 transit passage rights, though Iran has never ratified UNCLOS. The US Navy announced it considered the Iranian toll zone 'legally invalid and unenforceable.' Al Jazeera described the development as Iran's 'most aggressive legal claim over the Strait since the Islamic Revolution.'