India, April 9 -- Iran is reportedly planning to levy a toll for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would violate maritime trade norms. The freedom of peaceful navigation -- an idea codified by the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994 -- would be violated if Iran collects tolls in the strategic waterway.

Iran wants to collect toll from any passing ship, and to assess each vessel, said Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran's Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union, the Financial Times reported. The country is reportedly planning to charge $1 a barrel of oil as a toll fee from shipping companies to allow their tankers to transit the strait. Follow Iran-US war n...