Some Gulf states signal they aren't opposed to paying fees in Hormuz, sources say
Some Arab Gulf States have suggested to the US and European countries that they are not opposed to paying a fee in the Strait of Hormuz, but reject Iranian control of the waterway, multiple US and regional officials have told Middle East Eye.
The difference between the two positions is a nuanced one, officials briefed on the matter told MEE, but it is important as fighting flares between the US and Iran again.
US President Donald Trump is also signalling he expects economic compensation for the US providing security in the waterway.
“For some Gulf states, a toll doesn’t really matter. Financially, it is negligible to their bottom line. They want stability,” one US official told MEE.
“What the Gulf doesn’t want is Iran to have veto power over who can exit and enter the strait. They don’t want Iran to be able to flip a switch. The toll or payment is insignificant,” a separate official in the region told MEE.
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The signals Gulf states have quietly sent to multiple western capitals could explain why US President Donald Trump has resurrected the idea of charging to provide security in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump on Monday called for the US to collect a 20 percent fee for serving as the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz. He said the US’s Gulf partners, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, should pay the fee for security.
But Trump's remarks contrasted sharply with those of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the same day, who said that "no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees" in international waterways.
UAE and other Gulf officials have publicly rejected Iran's attempts to impose transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
Investments, not fees
Trump walked back his claim on Tuesday, saying that in lieu of a fee, he expected Gulf states to invest more money in the US.
“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20 percent United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
But even Trump’s flip does not separate the concept of the US extracting an economic benefit from Gulf states in exchange for handling the security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
For example, Trump did not say that Asian countries, which import Gulf energy, or Greek shipowners, who play a major role in shipping, should make investments in the US.
Referring to the Gulf states, Trump said on Tuesday: “I spoke to all of them, and they would love to invest more money in the United States at record amounts, and that would be very acceptable”.
“This way, there's no fee. I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting this strait for the entire world, for China and everyone. I don't mind protecting it for China. I don't mind protecting it for anybody. But it's unfair that we're not, in some way, compensated,” Trump told the press during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the White House.
Trump’s comments appear to suggest that Gulf states are willing to pay an economic premium for stability in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s efforts to establish a service fee in the waterway have been hamstrung in recent weeks by Oman’s willingness to allow vessels to transit its territorial waters without consulting Iran.
Multiple US and regional officials told MEE that Muscat has been under intense pressure to distance itself from Iran’s service fee plans.
Iran has responded by attacking Qatari, Emirati and Saudi vessels in Oman’s waters.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries can stake a claim up to 12 nautical miles for their territorial waters. The Strait of Hormuz is just 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point. Oman and Iran are its only two littoral states.
Some legal experts have told MEE that if Oman and Iran worked together, they could establish a legal reasoning to charge “piloting fees” or “fees for service” in the waterway. Oman’s move to allow vessels to transit freely robs Iran of that legal rationale.
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