Sachi Kitajima Mulkey
Most of the countries in the world have agreed to an international treaty, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, that bans interfering with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. But neither the United States nor Iran has ratified the treaty. And now, both are saying they want to impose tolls on ships passing through the strait.
That would be illegal under the Law of the Sea, as the pact is widely known. The actions represent a significant challenge to a United Nations-brokered treaty that sets out a wide range of rules for behavior in waters that no single nation owns or controls.
On Monday, Donald Trump told reporters at a news conference that he would like the United States to impose a toll in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping channel that Iran has been blocking since the start of the war. He was responding to the fact that Iran has been establishing tolls of its own on the waterway, and recently indicated that it intends to do so after peace is reestablished. Previously, U.S. officials have called these actions illegal.
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