Iran exempts ships from India, China, Iraq and Qatar from Hormuz restrictions

Which ships are exempt

Iran has lifted its Strait of Hormuz restrictions for vessels from India, China, Iraq and Qatar, according to a senior Iranian lawmaker quoted by the Iranian Students' News Agency. Amir Hayat Moqaddam, deputy chairman of the parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said these ships move without hindrance and that American forces are not stopping them either. Reporting citing the Asia News portal appeared on 5 November, and Al Jazeera followed on 6 November. The exemptions cover four states, while the wider naval blockade of Iran remains in place. Moqaddam did not say whether Iraqi vessels pay a toll.

“Ships from these countries pass freely, and the Americans do not intercept them either.”

Fees and what Tehran expects in return

India and China pay transit fees to Tehran, according to Moqaddam, while Qatari vessels pass free of charge. Iran is also expected to receive medicine from India and political backing from China. Qatar already gives Iran diplomatic support and leads mediation efforts to end the war. Nader Hashemi, an associate professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University, said Iran was most likely charging a transit fee or a share of the cargo value so the ships would pass without being harassed.

Oil revenue and the sanctions question

Wolfgang Pusztai, a security and defence analyst who formerly served as Austria's defence attaché to Libya, called the move clever.

“It's a clever move by Tehran for several reasons.”

Pusztai said the scheme could bring in significant revenue, because China buys nearly 90 percent of Iran's total oil exports. He also pointed to Qatar's many liquefied natural gas buyers as part of the calculation. Rouzbeh Parsi, an Iran analyst and affiliated researcher at Lund University, noted that Iran has been under sanctions for a long time, so bartering is not new. He said the difference now is an effort to chip away at an embargo in order to move crucial goods and services in and out, and he questioned whether the arrangement works and to what extent.

Background to the closure

Iran effectively shut the strait early in the US-Israel war on Iran, which began on 28 February. Before the conflict, roughly 20 percent of global oil and gas exports passed through the narrow passage linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Washington responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports, and it reimposed that blockade in July. The exemptions therefore apply inside a broader restriction that has not been lifted.

What remains uncertain

The reporting relies on Moqaddam's account for the terms of the arrangement. The fee amounts and the position on Iraqi ships are not specified in the articles. Whether the passage holds while the blockade stays in place is the central open question, and Parsi's doubt about how well the deals work is the one the coverage leaves unresolved.