Fee approved! Major news just broke in the Strait of Hormuz! U.S. special forces have arrived in the Middle East!

A latest signal has come in about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

According to a report by CCTV News, an Iranian official said Iran plans to implement a ship access and fee system for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. On March 30 local time, Aladin Broujerdi, a member of the Iranian Islamic Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that in light of the current international security situation and external threats, Iran is seriously considering withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and plans to impose stricter access and fee requirements on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Broujerdi also said Iran currently has full control over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway. He revealed that Iran plans to establish an entirely new strait management system, which it intends to model on Turkey’s management of the Bosporus Strait and Egypt’s management of the Suez Canal. Vessels transiting the strait, he said, would be required to obtain permission from Iran and pay the corresponding passage and service fees.

In its latest bulletin, the Joint Maritime Information Center said that although the threats facing ships in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz remain at a high level, the broad signal interference that had previously obscured ships’ actual locations has eased somewhat in the Persian Gulf. Also, according to the latest data from the Joint Maritime Information Center, Tehran since March 20 apparently has not carried out any attacks on ships.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military has also reportedly made major moves. According to the latest report from Xinhua News Agency, hundreds of U.S. Special Operations Forces troops have arrived in the Middle East, where they will conduct joint operations with the Marine Corps and airborne forces. They may be used to vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz, or they may be used to occupy Khark Island, Iran’s oil export hub.

Latest signal from the Strait of Hormuz

As electronic signal interference during the weekend weakened, the actual locations of ships that had been stuck in the Persian Gulf are becoming clearer. This helps ease outside concerns about navigation in this war-affected region.

In its latest bulletin, the Joint Maritime Information Center said that although the threats facing ships in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz remain at a high level, the broad signal interference that had previously obscured ships’ actual locations has eased somewhat in the Persian Gulf. Such interference means shipowners often cannot accurately determine the exact location of their own fleets, leading to additional legal and insurance risks.

Based on data from the Joint Maritime Information Center, Tehran has apparently not carried out any attacks on ships since March 20. The naval organization said the total number of reported and confirmed incidents and attacks targeting ships and maritime infrastructure is 21.

Jennifer Parker, a part-time professor at the Defense and Security Research Institute of the University of Western Australia, said the reasons for the improvement could be that Iran’s jamming capabilities have been weakened by U.S. strikes, or that Tehran has launched fewer attacks and the UAE has reduced the intensity of jamming.

However, she noted that the risks brought by distorted signal data in the region remain high. Parker said, “It’s still not clear to what extent the interference is actually occurring.” She said ships still face risks when crossing the Strait of Hormuz, but if they choose to transit, they should shut down transponders and rely on visual navigation.

On the 29th, Trump said Iran allowed 10 oil tankers flying the Pakistani flag to pass through the Strait of Hormuz last week, which has since increased to 20. He told the British Financial Times, “These tankers have already set sail and are going straight through the middle of the strait.” The speaker of the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly, Kalibaf, approved the relevant decision.

On the 23rd, Kalibaf posted on social media, denying any negotiations with the United States. Kalibaf said that spreading “fake news” is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets, so that the United States and Israel can extricate themselves from the deep mire they are stuck in.

Daniela Hathorn, a senior market analyst at Capital.com, wrote in her latest report: “From the perspective of market structure, this looks very much like a typical ‘TACO’ dynamic—Trump sends an upgrade signal and then backs off when faced with economic consequences.”

She added: “This further confirms the view that the U.S. government is actively seeking to end the war, even though the path to achieving a ‘ceasefire’ remains unclear.”

Nancy Tengler, CEO of Laffer Tengler Investments, said her team also feels that last week the U.S. government became increasingly weary of the impact of the Iran conflict on markets.

“This president cares about the stock market. He wants to win the midterm elections.” Tengler said.

Hundreds of U.S. special troops have arrived in the Middle East

On March 30, Xinhua News Agency, citing a report from the U.S. New York Times dated the 29th, said that hundreds of U.S. Special Operations Forces troops have already arrived in the Middle East, providing more options for the U.S. to conduct military operations against Iran.

The report quoted U.S. officials as saying that these special forces will conduct joint operations with the Marine Corps and airborne forces. They may be used to compete for control of the Strait of Hormuz, or to occupy Khark Island, Iran’s oil export hub. They may also be used for actions targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The report said that the total number of U.S. forces in the Middle East currently exceeds 50,000, about 10,000 more than the scale of day-to-day deployments.

The U.S. Washington Post reported that the Trump administration is swinging back and forth between “ending the war” and “escalating the war.” Any potential ground actions would not reach the scale of a full-scale invasion.

Khark Island lies in the northwest of the Persian Gulf, about 25 kilometers from Iran’s coastline. It is roughly 6 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide. It is Iran’s largest oil export base, and 90% of Iran’s crude oil is exported from there. The U.S. military previously carried out a large-scale strike on Khark Island on March 13, claiming to have “successfully struck” more than 90 military targets on the island, while “preserving” the oil infrastructure.

That day, in an interview with the British Financial Times, Trump said, “We might take Khark Island, and we might not. We have a lot of options. This also means we have to stay at Khark Island for a period of time.”

When asked about Iran’s defenses on Khark Island, he said Iran has no defenses at all. “We can take it easily.”

On the 29th, according to a report by Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency, Maysbashi Moghadam, a member of the Iranian experts’ meeting, said that if the United States tried to send troops to seize an island of Iran, it would face Iran’s “decisive counterattack.”

At present, Israel’s military operations are still moving forward. In a statement issued in the early hours of the 30th, the Israel Defense Forces said that Israel is striking Iran’s military facilities across “the entire Tehran.”

（Source: China Securities Journal）