US warns shipping firms they could face sanctions over paying Iranian tolls in the Strait of Hormuz

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions if they make payments to Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The alert issued Friday by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control adds a new layer of pressure to the standoff between the United States and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

About a fifth of global trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf during peacetime.

Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the United States and Israel launched a war on February 28. It then began offering some ships safe passage by diverting them through alternative routes closer to its coastline, sometimes charging a fee for this service.

This “tolling” effort is at the center of the US sanctions warning.

Payment requests could include transfers not only of cash, but also of “digital assets, offsets, informal exchanges or other in-kind payments,” including charitable donations and payments to Iranian embassies, OFAC said.

“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn U.S. and non-U.S. persons of the sanctions risks of making these payments to the Iranian regime or seeking guarantees from the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of the method of payment,” it said.

The United States responded to Iran’s closure of the strait with a naval blockade on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving the country and depriving Iran of the oil revenues it needs to support its ailing economy.

U.S. Central Command said 45 commercial ships had been ordered to turn around since the blockade began.

The warning comes as US President Donald Trump quickly rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the war between the two countries.

“They want to make a deal, I’m not happy with it, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House. He did not specify what he saw as the shortcomings, but expressed frustration with Iran’s leaders.

“It’s very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they’re all messed up.”

Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that Iran handed over its plan to Pakistani mediators on Thursday evening.

The fragile three-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran appears to be holding, although the two countries have exchanged accusations of violations. The standoff is putting increasing pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products linked to the oil industry.

Negotiations continued by telephone after Trump canceled his envoys’ trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week launched a new plan to reopen the critical passage used by America’s Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefed several of his regional counterparts on the country’s initiatives to end the war, according to his social media accounts. He also spoke on Friday with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU’s partners in the Gulf.

Iran announced on Saturday that it had hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel.

Iranian legal news outlet Mizanonline identified the men as Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh. They were hanged after the country’s Supreme Court upheld previous death sentences.

The outlet said Karimpour was accused of sending “sensitive information” to an officer in Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, while Bekrzadeh allegedly sent details of government and religious leaders as well as information about Natanz. The central Iranian city is home to a nuclear enrichment facility bombed by Israel and the United States last year.

Iran has hanged more than a dozen people in recent weeks over allegations of espionage and terrorist activity.

Fu Cong, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire was “the most urgent issue,” as well as bringing the parties together to resume negotiations in good faith “to ensure that the foundation is laid for the reopening of Hormuz.”

Foreign Minister Wang Yi “has been on the phone almost constantly” with representatives of all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan’s mediation efforts between the sides.

Fu stressed that the root cause of the enormous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries as well as the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, “is the illegitimate war waged by the United States and Israel.”

___

Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in Washington, Nasser Karimi in Tehran and Edith Lederer at the U.N. contributed to this report.