The US is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran vowed Saturday that the waterway is not open to negotiation.
The alert posted Friday by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
It comes during an ongoing US blockade designed to prevent Tehran from exercising control over the strait and compel the regime to finally agree to end its nuclear program.
Cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, UAE, May 1, 2026. APAbout a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.
Iran effectively closed the critical waterway to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to strike ships after the US and Israel launched its war on Tehran on Feb. 28.
It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through narrow, alternative routes closer to its shoreline, while also charging fees at times for the service.
That “tollbooth” effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.
There have been reports Iran has been shaking down shipping companies to the tune of $2 million per vessel to secure safe passage. If allowed to persist, the scheme could allow Iran to obtain a hard currency lifeline even while fending off international sanctions.
Meanwhile, violators of US sanctions risk fines of up to $1 million and 20 years in prison, according to prior Treasury Department announcments.
The payment demands that fall under the Trump administration’s warning could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps or other in-kind payments,” including charitable donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.
President Trump speaks during an event at The Villages Charter School at The Villages, Florida, May 1, 2026. REUTERS“OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method,” according to the Treasury announcement.
In another brazen move, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament issued a post Saturday stating that the body would approve a law to manage the Strait of Hormuz that would bar Israeli vessels from using it and require ships from “hostile” countries to pay for permits.
Senior clerics in Iran also warned against engaging with the United States.
The war in Iran started on Feb. 28 — 61 days ago as of Saturday, Falon Wriede / NY Post Design“Negotiating with America means surrender,” Mashhad Friday Prayer Imam Ahmad Alamolhoda said, adding Iran could leverage control of Hormuz without talks.
The US responded to Iran’s closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Tehran Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. President Trump last month also ordered the Navy to conduct an operation to clear mines from the strait.
US Central Command said 48 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.
It posted an image on X Saturday of the USS New Orleans, an amphibious transport dock, sailing through the Arabian Sea while enforcing the blockade.
CENTCOM’s post came after Trump swiftly rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the war between the countries.
A giant billboard reading “The Strait of Hormuz remains closed” at Revolution Square in Tehran on April 28, 2026. AFP via Getty Images“They want to make a deal, I’m not satisfied with it, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said Friday at the White House.
He didn’t elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.
“It’s a very disjointed leadership,” Trump said. “They all want to make a deal, but they’re all messed up.”
The State Department also announced sanctions Friday against a China-based petroleum terminal operator, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd., as well as a Chinese national Xinchun Li, who is president of the company.
“The United States is taking decisive action to disrupt Iran’s illicit oil trade, the Iranian regime’s primary revenue streams that fund terrorism and regional destabilization,” the agency said in a statement.
“So long as Iran attempts to generate oil revenues to fund its destabilizing activities, the United States will hold both Iran and all its sanctions-evading partners accountable.”
