Iran warns oil tankers will likely be destroyed in the event that they attempt to journey alongside the Strait of Hormuz with out permission as regime calls for large cryptocurrency charges

Iran has warned that oil tankers will be destroyed if they try to travel along the Strait of Hormuz without permission, as it seeks to retain control over the passage during the two-week ceasefire.

The Islamic Republic is demanding that shipping companies pay enormous tolls in cryptocurrency to access the vital waterway, which usually handles around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas.

The future of the passageway is a major sticking point between Washington and Tehran, with US President Donald Trump calling for the free flow of maritime traffic to be restored.

‘Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks aren’t used for transferring weapons,’ Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times on Wednesday.  

‘Everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush,’ he added. 

Each vessel will have to first email the authorities about its cargo, after which Iran’s Supreme National Security Council will alert them about the toll to be paid in digital currencies.

Hosseini said the toll would be $1 per barrel of oil, adding that empty tankers can pass freely. 

His statements imply that Tehran will demand that vessels use the northerly route close to its coastline, raising concerns over whether western or Gulf state-linked tankers will be willing to risk transit. 

Iran has warned that oil tankers will be destroyed if they try to travel along the Strait of Hormuz without permission, as it seeks to retain control over the passage during the two-week ceasefire

The Strait of Hormuz handles around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas but has effectively been shut down by Iran in retaliation over the joint US-Israeli attacks launched on February 28

‘Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,’ Hosseini told the newspaper.

It comes as tankers in the Gulf on Wednesday received a radio broadcast that warned they would be attacked with military strikes unless they first gained permission from Iranian authorities.

‘If any vessels try to transit without permission, [they] will be destroyed,’ said the broadcast, which was in English.

Such comments outlining Iranian control of the strait contradict statements coming out of the White House – heightening fears about the potential for a lasting peace between the warring sides. 

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night, the US President made it abundantly clear that the two-week ceasefire was dependent on ‘the Islamic republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz’.

In contrast, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said traffic will flow ‘via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due considerations to technical limitations’, raising concerns about the future of not just for oil and gas – but also jet fuel, sulphur, urea, and diesel. 

Western ship owners announced on Wednesday they were adopting a cautious approach, while waiting for updates on how and whether the waterway might reopen.

So far, no tankers are currently braving the transit apart from two linked to Tehran.

Maersk, the globe’s second biggest shipping line, said it is ‘working with urgency’ to clarify the regime’s terms.

‘The ceasefire may create transit opportunities, but it does not yet provide full maritime certainty,’ the company added, making clear it would continue to take a ‘cautious approach’ with cargoes and was not yet making changes to specific services. 

Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE will likely find it highly unpalatable if Tehran continues to control traffic through the vital oil passage.

The situation also raises questions for Opec+, the oil producers’ group, with experts warning that handing the Islamic Republic control of Hormuz could fundamentally shift the balance of power within the organisation by giving Tehran a potential veto over rival members’ exports.