Iran announces plans to bring in maritime fees for strait of Hormuz

Vessels at the strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, on Thursday. Photograph: Reuters View image in fullscreen Vessels at the strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, on Thursday. Photograph: Reuters Iran announces plans to bring in maritime fees for strait of Hormuz Tehran says fees to cover cost of managing waterway will come into effect at end of 60-day negotiation period Middle East crisis – live updates Iran has announced plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the strait of Hormuz in two months after the 60-day period of negotiation that has been triggered by the signing of the memorandum of understanding. Tehran, claiming a historic victory over the US, added that the strait was under its control and the European plan for a naval mission to escort ships though the strait would not be welcome. The warning came as the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israeli prime minister, said Israel “will maintain the security zone in south Lebanon as long as our security needs require it”, referring to the more than 600 sq km of Lebanese territory occupied by Israeli troops along the border. On Iran, Netanyahu also stated that Israel would continue to “adhere to the supreme objective” of not allowing Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran insists the deal referring to territorial integrity of Lebanon requires a full Israeli withdrawal, making Donald Trump accountable for Israel’s withdrawal. Further Israeli drone attacks and artillery shelling continued on Thursday morning. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against Israeli forces in the Kfar Tebnit-Ali al-Taher area in recent days. The threats to the agreement came as the planned formal ceremony marking the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran on Friday was cancelled. Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, have already personally signed the document, translated into English and Farsi. The cancellation of the formal ceremony means Pakistan’s chief mediator, the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, will now not travel to Switzerland, a blow to Pakistan that would have welcomed a moment in the global limelight as mediator. The US vice-president, JD Vance, said he still intended to travel to Switzerland but admitted he did not know what would happen. Iran said technical-level talks between the two sides would go ahead at the luxurious Qatari-owned Bürgenstock mountain resort by Lake Lucerne. The talks, which are the first direct meeting between the two sides since they met in Islamabad on 12 April, will be focused on how to implement the 14-clause memorandum, including how to lift the sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and ensure that commercial traffic starts to flow freely through the strait of Hormuz. At a White House briefing Vance said the order had already been sent out lifting the blockade on Iranian ports, and more than a dozen ships had travelled through to Iran. US troops wo