'No Tolls' vs. 'Authority to Charge Fees'... Can We Return to Pre-War Status?

[Anchor]

Attention is now shifting to when the Strait of Hormuz will return to normal. However, there are many obstacles to overcome before free navigation can be restored to the way it was before the war.

Reporter Yoo Deok-gi has the story.

[Reporter]

U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized that as soon as the memorandum of understanding is signed, the Strait of Hormuz will be fully opened without tolls, and the U.S. Navy's maritime blockade against Iran will be lifted simultaneously.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (June 11, local time) : (Will you lift the blockade immediately once the agreement is signed?) Yes, that is correct. That is part of the agreement.]

However, while Iran has agreed to remove mines and open the strait within 30 days, it remains firm in its position to collect service fees from vessels under the pretext of safety management, instead of the tolls that the U.S. has opposed.

[Abbas Araghchi / Iranian Foreign Minister (June 12, local time) : The Strait of Hormuz must be managed differently than in the past. A joint program (with Oman) will be announced.]

President Trump is only emphasizing that there will be no tolls, raising the possibility that completely free passage may not be achieved.

It is also expected to take at least six months to clear the mines planted by Iran.

Even if ships move through the safe routes proposed by Iran to avoid the mines, a bottleneck is inevitable as more than 500 large vessels currently stranded inside the strait attempt to exit.

The Strait of Hormuz, which previously handled about 25% of the world's oil and natural gas traffic with an average of 130 ships passing through daily, has seen its traffic plummet to an average of five ships per day since the war. Even if future negotiations proceed smoothly, it will inevitably take a considerable amount of time to return to pre-war levels of normalization.

Above all, if Iran, having realized the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz during this war, uses it as leverage in future negotiations, the security of the strait could be shaken at any time.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol, Design: Lee Jun-ho, Choi Jae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.