Tarek Chouiref
30 May 2026•Update: 30 May 2026
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said Friday that US sanctions targeting the body would not help Washington gain control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The agency condemned the sanctions and said being targeted by a country “whose president boasts about piracy” was a sign of its positive performance.
“You failed to gain control of the Strait of Hormuz through military means and diplomacy, and you will not achieve it through sanctions either,” it wrote on US social media company X,
The agency added that despite provocative US actions in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, it continues, without interruption, to review transit requests and issue passage permits to non-hostile vessels.
It also said it would soon release statistics covering the first month of operations.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned the agency on Wednesday, accusing it of acting as an extortion arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by forcing commercial vessels to pay tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US said the body forces vessels to pay what it described as illegitimate tolls and submit sensitive information in exchange for safe passage through the strategic waterway, with funds allegedly funneled directly to the IRGC.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions were part of Washington’s efforts to increase pressure on Iran, warning that entities cooperating with the authority could face sanctions risks.
Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in late February.
Tehran retaliated with attacks targeting Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, alongside the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but subsequent talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. Trump later extended the truce indefinitely.
The two sides have since continued exchanging proposals and counterproposals in an effort to resume direct talks and end the conflict.
