Iran has exempted merchant vessels from India, China, Iraq and Qatar from restrictions on using the Strait of Hormuz, and the measure is aimed at facilitating the procurement of medicines from India, an influential Iranian lawmaker has said.
“We have currently exempted India, China, Iraq and Qatar from transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. The exemptions are aimed at shoring up Iran’s interests related to these countries, he indicated. He didn’t specify whether Iraqi vessels have to pay transit fees. Hayat-Moghaddam’s remarks came against the backdrop of continuing restrictions on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
There were at least 70 attacks on merchant ships between the start of the conflict in February and August, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). These attacks resulted in the death of 19 seafarers. Fifteen seafarers are among the 24 Indians killed so far in the West Asia conflict.
Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said ships from these four countries can “pass freely” through the strategic waterway and the US too is not stopping them either. Iran is facilitating the passage of Indian ships to enable the import of medicines from India, while the exemption for Chinese shipping is aimed at securing China’s political support, he said, speaking in Farsi. Hayat-Moghaddam said Iran collects transit fees from Indian and Chinese vessels, and allows Qatari vessels to pass without charges. The European Union (EU) has said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy has put in place a system requiring ships to provide identification and information on their cargo and destination in order to secure passage.
Ships from these countries pass freely, and the Americans do not intercept them either,” Hayat-Moghaddam said in an interview with the Iranian Students’ News Agency on Tuesday.
