US warns shipping firms over paying Iran to transit Strait of Hormuz

The United States is warning shipping companies they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control alert posted Friday adds pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes.
Iran effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships after the US and Israel launched a war on Feb 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through routes closer to its shore, charging fees at times.
That “tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning, which said payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including charitable donations and payments at Iranian embassies.
The US responded to Iran’s closure of the strait with a naval blockade of Iranian ports on April 13, preventing Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
The US Central Command has said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
Imprisoned Nobel Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remained hospitalized in Zanjan in northwestern Iran after being transferred there from prison late Friday. Her foundation described the condition of the rights lawyer as “very high risk”, with fluctuating blood pressure and severe nausea.
But medical teams in Zanjan have requested her medical records before performing any treatment, though it has recommended that she be transferred to Tehran for treatment by her own doctors, the foundation said.
However, “the Intelligence (Ministry) is still opposing the transfer of Narges to a hospital in Tehran for angiography,” her husband, Taghi Rahmani, said, referring to an imaging of blood vessels.
“Until the angiography is done, it is not possible to determine what her main illness currently is,” Rahmani, who is based in Paris, said in a voice message shared with The Associated Press by the foundation.
Mohammadi’s brother, Oslo-based Hamidreza Mohammadi, said in a voice message shared with the AP that the doctors have not been able to treat her fluctuating blood pressure.
Mohammadi was urgently transferred from prison late Friday. The foundation said her legal team is pursuing the matter with the General Prosecutor’s office.