The International Maritime Organization announced it has begun evacuating more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz since Iran effectively closed the waterway in February, describing the operation as unprecedented in the post-World War II era [3][10][20]. IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said the agency had "secured the necessary safety guarantees and has thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations," with the evacuation conducted in cooperation with Iran, Oman, the United States, and other coastal states [3][4][10]. The International Transport Workers' Federation reported receiving over 2,000 requests for help from stranded crews regarding abandonment, unpaid wages, and dwindling provisions [17]. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that continued disruption of the strait could push millions into hunger due to interrupted fertilizer and food shipments [14].
The evacuation unfolded as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Abu Dhabi to reassure Gulf allies that no country would be permitted to charge tolls on the strait. "It's an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That's existing international law. That's the way it is in international waterways all over the world, and that's the way we expect it'll be here," Rubio said [6]. Gulf Cooperation Council leaders aligned with that position, rejecting Iran's proposed fees as an illegitimate assertion of financial and legal control over the waterway [19].
Iranian officials offered a directly opposing account. Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told state media that "everyone should know that the administration of the Strait of Hormuz will never go back to the way it was before the war" [4][10]. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an Iranian governmental body, published terms stating that "no vessel is permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without a valid passage permit issued by the PGSA" [9]. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei drew a distinction between tolls and service fees, stating that Iran was not imposing tolls but rather charging for navigational services and environmental protection [12]. Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said the strait would remain open but under new conditions, including fees for safe-passage services [15]. Muhsin Zengene, a member of the Iranian Parliament's Plan and Budget Commission, said Iran was collecting transit fees averaging between 1.5 and 2 million dollars per vessel [16].
Shipping data showed tentative but limited resumption of traffic. At least 172 vessels crossed the strait since the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was signed, with 42 ships transiting on a single day — a figure AXSMarine analyst Mihail Todorov called "one of the clearest signs so far of a tentative normalization in traffic" [4]. That figure remained far below the pre-conflict average of 138 daily crossings [9]. The Joint Maritime Information Center warned ships to avoid the central part of the strait "due to the existence of mines" and recommended a narrower southern route confirmed clear of mines [9]. EOS Risk Group analyst Martin Kelly noted that US sanctions on the PGSA may be holding some ship owners back from requesting Iranian permits, even as normal trade showed an increase [9]. Greenpeace International warned that more than 85 large oil tankers carrying at least 21 billion litres of oil remained trapped in the crisis zone, calling the situation an "ecological ticking time bomb" [18].
The dispute over the strait ran parallel to contradictory claims about nuclear inspections. President Donald Trump posted on social media that "Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!). This will insure 'Nuclear Honesty'" [3][4]. Vice President JD Vance said negotiations in Switzerland had laid a "solid foundation for a final deal" with Tehran ready to allow inspectors back in [4][7]. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that the agency would resume inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities [22]. Iranian officials categorically denied any such agreement. Baghaei said there had been no agreement on inspections and no plans to invite the UN nuclear watchdog back [4]. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, stated: "Der Iran ist das einzige Land, das darüber entscheidet, was mit diesen Vermögenswerten geschieht. Kein anderes Land hat das Recht, Einfluss darauf zu nehmen" (Iran is the only country that decides what happens with these assets. No other country has the right to influence that) [7]. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran "will never negotiate with anyone, under any circumstances, ever, about our defensive capabilities" [3]. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated aspects of the talks, said ballistic missiles were "not on the table at all" during the MoU negotiations and affirmed Iran's right to possess them [3][4].
The US-Iran confrontation also produced a domestic constitutional clash. The US Senate voted 50–48 to pass a concurrent resolution directing the president to withdraw US forces from hostilities with Iran unless Congress explicitly authorizes military action, with four Republicans joining Democrats [1][5]. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he forced the vote so that "Republicans can complain about Trump's war, his secrecy, and his disastrous deal with Iran all they want behind closed doors, but the only way to ensure this war ends once and for all is for Republicans to act" [5]. House Speaker Mike Johnson called limiting the commander-in-chief during negotiations a "very dangerous prospect" [5]. Trump dismissed the resolution as untimely and useless [21]. The resolution is non-binding.
Beyond the immediate parties, the crisis was reshaping energy supply calculations. China was quietly negotiating with Washington for passage rights for its vessels through the strait [24]. Pakistan activated contingency plans to reroute crude oil imports through Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port at Yanbu [25]. BBC Afrique reported that African economies faced rising fuel and food costs from the disruption [23]. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel resisted Iranian pressure to withdraw from southern Lebanon and would maintain its security zone and freedom of action against Hezbollah regardless of the broader US-Iran deal [4].
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said technical talks had established four working groups — on sanctions termination, nuclear affairs, reconstruction and economic development, and monitoring and implementation — to negotiate a final deal within the 60-day window set by the MoU [4]. Whether the contradictory claims on inspections, tolls, and frozen assets can be reconciled within that timeframe remains the central unresolved question.