The Iranian regime on Monday denied charging a “toll” to Indian ships for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, following President Donald Trump’s threat to prevent any ship that paid ransom to Iran from using the strait.
“You can ask the Indian government if we have charged anything up to now,” Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali insisted at a press conference from the Iranian embassy in New Delhi.
“In this difficult time, we have good relations. We believe Iran and India share common interests and a common fate,” he said.
Fathali said Iran is keeping in “close communication” with India, with an eye toward ensuring the safety of Indian vessels, but is not extracting a ransom to do so.
“For Indian ships, you know that we have a good relationship with the Indian government. We want good preparation for Indian ships. You know our Foreign Minister has described India as one of the five countries as a friend,” he said.
The “five countries” described as “friends” of Iran by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are India, China, Russia, Iraq, and Pakistan. Those countries supposedly enjoy free passage through the Strait of Hormuz while Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to attack all others.
“I want to thank all the Indian people. I believe that they have demonstrated that they are truly reliable and compassionate partners in times of hardship. I would like to thank the government of India for facilitating all the necessary arrangements in this difficult time,” Fathali said.
Fathali claimed Iran is working on some kind of “mechanism” to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for “friends,” but he struggled to differentiate this mechanism from simple piracy by the regime in Tehran.
“Iran believes and is committed to international law and freedom of navigation. We announced that in the near future we will provide the mechanism and announce it to all the countries,” he said.
India officially stopped buying oil from Iran in 2019 in response to U.S. sanctions pressure, but when the U.S. Treasury Department issued a special waiver last month for Iran to sell oil that was stranded at sea on its tankers, India purchased the oil aboard two huge tankers: the Iranian-flagged Felicity and the Curacao-flagged Jaya.
India was reportedly able to receive both ships at its docks on Monday without breaking the U.S. blockade that went into effect on Iranian ports Monday morning. The ships carried cargoes of oil that were loaded from Iran in February and March.
India’s Reliance Industries, which operates the world’s largest refineries, said a special “one-time exemption” to U.S. sanctions was granted for a total of four ships under U.S. sanctions. The ships also appear to have been excused from some of India’s regulatory requirements for docking to expedite their arrival.
President Trump on Sunday accused Iran of “extortion” for threatening traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and said he was working toward a full and safe reopening on an “all being allowed to go in, all being allowed to go out” basis.
Until that full reopening is achieved, Trump threatened to take action against any country that pays Iran for safe passage through the strait.
“I have also instructed our navy to seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social. “No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”
Read the full article here