Iranian Parliament prepares a bill to manage the Strait of Hormuz

Ali Nikzad, deputy speaker of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, revealed that the Iranian parliament is working on a new 12-article bill to manage the Strait of Hormuz, in a move that reflects a push to redraw the mechanism of maritime passage through one of the world’s most important strategic waterways.

Nikzad explained, during a visit by members of the parliamentary Reconstruction Committee to the Bandar Abbas area in southern Iran, that the anticipated bill would be approved “with due regard for international law and the rights of neighboring countries,” while stressing at the same time that Tehran would not retreat from what he described as its “sovereign rights” in the strait.

According to the statements, the draft law includes a complete ban on vessels of the “Zionist entity” from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, in addition to imposing restrictions on ships from countries Tehran describes as “hostile.” Such vessels would not be allowed to transit unless they paid war-related compensation, while all other ships would be subject to a licensing system and prior authorization from the Iranian side.

Nikzad said that “navigation in the Strait of Hormuz will not return to what it was before the third imposed war,” considering that the “new management of the strait is no less important than the decision to nationalize oil,” in a remark carrying broad political, economic, and strategic implications.