It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, May 06, 2026
Iran Launches "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" to Administer Hormuz Tolls
The PGSA will provide an administrative interface with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, which oversees transits (Fars)
After Iran announced its plan to charge for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in March, a plethora of scam operators popped up to offer fraudulent paperwork in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency. That problem may now have a solution, though not the one that the shipping community would prefer: Iran has launched an official "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" with its own formal email address, providing owners with a verifiable single window for arranging transit with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to Islamic of Iran Public Broadcasting, vessels wanting to transit the Strait of Hormuz will receive an email from the official address "info@PGSA.ir," which will include information about Iran's transit regulations. Once the shipowner "aligns their procedures with this framework," they can obtain authorization for passage.
The creation of a new government authority to interface with the IRGC does not resolve the questionable legality of Iran's tolls on an internationally-designated strait. But there is a more pressing compliance concern: the U.S. has threatened to sanction any entity that pays Iran for transit. Shipowners may think twice about openly communicating arrangements with the new authority's email account, given the surveillance capabilities of U.S. signals intelligence services.
Meanwhile, on the south side of the strait, the U.S. continues to promote a new safety "umbrella" for ships transiting outbound through Omani waters. The newly-formed "Project Freedom" is a competing vision for marine traffic: guided by the U.S., conducted without charge. Iran opposes the mission and has used force in an attempt to block it, including attacks on merchant ships and on U.S. Navy destroyers.
Those actions continued Tuesday: an unspecified cargo vessel was struck by a projectile in the strait, according to UKMTO. Martin Kelly of EOS Risk Group has identified the target as a CMA vessel, and CBS reports that it was the Maltese-flagged boxship CMA CGM San Antonio.
Several of the ship's crewmembers were injured in a cruise missile strike, two officials clarified to CBS.
Like other ships operating in the strait in the last few days, CMA CGM San Antonio has gone dark for security purposes, and her AIS transmission has not been received since Tuesday. Her last known position was off Dubai.
The IRGC's Positions on Larak Overlook the "Tehran Tollbooth" Route
Larak, center, sits just east of Qeshm at the northernmost point of the strait (NASA Worldview)
Larak Island, to the south of and covering the approaches to Iran’s largest port at Bandar Abbas, has achieved some notoriety in recent weeks as the island which Iran’s IRGC says merchant traffic must circumnavigate to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Iranian terms.
Larak is largely barren, a plug of sandstone 134 meters at its highest. The only settlement is the village of Larak on the northern side of the island, which is graced by the remains of a Portuguese castle. Locals get by with subsistence fishing, goat herding and smuggling, and hence the IRGC presence on the island is probably a substantial source of income. A feature of the landscape are recharge dams, designed to trap flood water and replenish local water supply when it rains occasionally.
There is little on the island by way of conventional military footprint, but IRGC facilities will merge with and be largely indistinguishable from the civilian infrastructure. The coast guard maintains a separate establishment to the IRGC Navy, but both communicate with passing sea traffic on the common Channel 16.
IRGC locations on the island of Larak (Google Earth/Copernicus/CJRC)
Lighthouses: Whether manned by coast guard or IRGC Navy staff, or both, Larak North Lighthouse and Larak Lighthouse on the high point of the island both provide visual observation of sea movements to north and south to fill out the maritime intelligence picture. Larak Lighthouse on the peak appears to have a coastal radar, two communications towers and in normal times flashes a white light every 12 seconds.
IRGC HQ & Communications Site: This is an active site, with until recently two tall communications towers, and a commercial ship’s radar on a 25-meter mast. The site has the only helipad identified on the island, suggestive of the headquarters function. The site also has garaging, which would be suitable for parking up anti-ship missiles and drones on mobile launchers.
Prepared Firing Points (FP1-3): Three prepared locations, each comprising three or more earthwork firing platforms, dominate the strait to the south. All three locations are connected to the island’s road network, so that mobile launchers can quickly reach these positions from hidden or protected storage locations elsewhere on the island. These storage locations cannot easily be identified, and may include caves and underground tunnels, but the IRGC also has protocols for keeping mobile drone and missile launchers in civilian buildings and warehouses. There is a substantial warehouse just south of the village of Larak, for which there is no obvious or declared purpose, which could be such a storage facility.
IRGC Navy Facilities: The IRGC Navy uses the only harbor on the island with a breakwater at Larak village. Before the current war, two 17-meter Peykaap II-class missile boats were frequently seen berthed on the main jetty in the harbor. The Peykaap II are each equipped with a pair of single Kowsar or Nasr anti-ship missile launchers, with the missiles using internal guidance and active terminal homing out to a range of 20 nm. At a second jetty close by, also seen on recent overhead visits, was an average of six fast speed boats, of the Taregh Class or smaller. These two jetties appear, from the low resolution imagery still available since February 28, to be the only two sites which may have been attacked.
Given the covert character of the IRGC presence on Larak Island, some capability is likely to have survived since February 28. Mobile drone and missile launchers can be hidden with relative ease, and replacements may have been brought onto the island during the ceasefire to replace any stock which has been destroyed, such that some offensive drone and missile capability may still be in place. In any case, the most important role for the island in the IRGC scheme of battle is to act as an observation post, from which to maintain surveillance of the Strait and from which to cue strike assets held elsewhere.
Larak Island sits at the northern tip of the IRGC’s recently-declared prohibition zone. Red boundaries show the approximate border of the prohibition zone, and the Iranian shipping channel is show in purple. The border of Omani territorial waters is marked in yellow. The Disputed Islands in the western approaches to the Strait are occupied by Iran (Google Earth/Copernicus/CJRC)
After Attack on CMA CGM Boxship, Trump Suspends Hormuz Transit Corridor
Destroyer USS Pinckney monitors traffic in the Gulf of Oman, May 2026 (USN)
On Tuesday, a cargo vessel was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, according to UKMTO - the latest in a series of ship strikes that Iran has launched following the initiation of a U.S.-led maritime security corridor. Shortly after, President Donald Trump announced a temporary "pause" for the corridor program, which was intended to provide a security "umbrella" for merchant ships trapped in the Arabian Gulf to escape via the Omani sector of the strait. The initiative had been in effect for two days, and several participants - and apparent nonparticipants - had come under Iranian attack.
CBS reports that the vessel struck in Tuesday's attack was the Maltese-flagged boxship CMA CGM San Antonio, and officials told the network that the ship may have been hit by a cruise missile. Several crewmembers were injured in the strike, two officials told CBS.
Like other ships operating in the strait in the last few days, CMA CGM San Antonio has gone dark for security purposes, and her AIS transmission has not been received since Tuesday. Her last known position was off Dubai.
Hours after news broke of the strike on the boxship, President Donald Trump declared Project Freedom a "tremendous military success" and announced that it would be paused for diplomatic negotiations.
"Based on the request of Pakistan and other countries . . . we have mutually agreed that, while the blockade [on Iranian traffic] will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom . . . will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the agreement [with Iran] can be finalized," Trump said in a statement.
Just hours earlier, in a Pentagon press briefing, top officials said that the now-suspended Project Freedom corridor was beyond a success - it was a "gift." They gave no predictions that it would be put on hold later in the day.
"As a direct gift from the United States to the world, we have established a powerful red, white and blue dome over the strait. American destroyers are on station, supported by hundreds of fighter jets, helicopters, drones and surveillance aircraft providing 24/7 overwatch for peaceful commercial vessels, except Iran’s of course," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters.
"We have a much better defensive arrangement [than traditional escort operations], where we have multiple layers that include ships, helicopters, aircraft, airborne early warning, electronic warfare – we have a much broader defensive package than you would have ever had if you were just escorting. I feel good about that, and it was proven just in the last couple of hours," said Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of Central Command, speaking to TWZ earlier in the morning.
U.S. Releases Additional Iranian Crewmembers to Pakistan for Repatriation
U.S. has released crewmembers from the Iranian containership and will also return the ship after repairs (CENTCOM)
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry reported that it has organized the repatriation of the Iranian crewmembers from the containership Touska. Pakistani officials called it a “confidence-building measure” by the United States as it continues to seek to mediate the war between the U.S. and Iran.
The statement from the Foreign Ministry said the crewmembers had been flown to Pakistan late on Sunday, May 3, to be handed over to the Iranian authorities. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed in a statement to ABC News that the transfer had taken place, and late on Monday, Iran's Fars News Agency, which is closely aligned with the IRGC, released photos saying the crew was home in Iran.
According to the Iranian report, six of the crewmembers had been released last week, and 15 others had arrived in Iran today. The Pakistanis are saying 22 crewmembers had been handed over. Iran, however, is saying that seven crewmembers remain in Pakistan for a total of 28 from the vessel.
In a bellicose statement last week, Iran said it planned to recapture the containership, which the United States seized on April 19. Donald Trump asserted the ship had ignored warnings in the Arabian Sea after the start of the blockade. USS Spruance fired on the ship, disabling the engine room, and then U.S. forces boarded and searched the ship. Iran said it had deferred military action to rescue the crew and ship to avoid injury to the crew.
Pakistan is reporting that the United States has also agreed to hand the ship back to its owners after repairs. It will be put in Pakistani waters, they report.
“Pakistan welcomes such confidence-building measures,” it said. Pakistan says it will continue to pursue ongoing mediation efforts for regional peace and security.
The move comes as the U.S. continues the blockade and asserts it would be enabling the exit of foreign ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran called any actions a violation of the ceasefire, and there were new reports that Iran fired on commercial shipping and claimed an attack on a U.S. destroyer.
CENTCOM on Sunday reported that 49 commercial vessels have now been redirected to comply with the blockade. It said that U.S. forces remain fully committed to total enforcement of the blockade against Iranian shipping and its ports.
Iran Attacked Two US Navy Destroyers During First Day of "Project Freedom"
Defense officials have identified the destroyers that transited the Strait of Hormuz Monday as USS Truxtun and USS Mason, according to CBS.
The vessels reached the relative safety of the Arabian Gulf, but only after coming under fire, as previously confirmed by CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper. CBS obtained additional detail: Iran responded to the transit by launching missiles and drones at the warships, and it dispatched small craft to interfere with the transit.
Other air defense assets were on hand to engage and defeat the inbound threats, and half a dozen small boats were destroyed, according to Adm. Cooper. Neither U.S. warship was struck - but the intensity of the reported barrage is not likely to provide reassurance to shipping, especially as two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels came under fire in the course of the first day of operation.
Foreign-flagged traffic near the waterway also came under fire, even though it is unclear if the foreign vessels selected for attack had any connection to the U.S.-operated "Project Freedom" transit scheme.
The multipurpose cargo ship HMM Namu sustained an explosion and fire in way of the engine room on Monday evening; the fire was out by Tuesday morning, and operator HMM is waiting for safe access to inspect the compartment in order to confirm whether it was an attack or a technical fault. At present, HMM said in a statement, the engine room is still filled with CO2 from the firefighting effort. Once ready, the vessel will be towed into port at Dubai for inspection and investigation.
A second vessel, the ADNOC-operated tanker Barakah, was reportedly hit by two drones off the coast of Oman while conducting a Hormuz transit. The crew are uninjured, ADNOC said in a statement.
Indonesia Says Iranian Tankers Have Legal Right of Passage in Lombok Strait
Two Iranian tankers are reported to have diverted to sail through Indonesia's Lombok Strait in an attempt to avoid the U.S. blockade (file photo from Iranian state media)
Indonesian officials said they are aware of the reports that Iranian crude oil tankers are transiting the Lombok Strait and cited the right of free passage. The statements came after reports by TankerTrackers.com that two Iranian-flagged crude oil tankers have slipped past the U.S. blockade and are routing through the passage east of Bali as an alternative to the more closely tracked Malacca Strait.
“We believe that these vessels are exercising their right of passage in accordance with international law,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ynonne Mewengkang is reported to have said, according to the Indonesian news service Bernama. The Foreign Ministry cited the 1982 UNCLOS treaty (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), which has been in force for the past 32 years. It reiterated the right of “Innocent Passage” as well as many of the other basic rules regarding the oceans.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) asserted that as of May 5, U.S. forces had directed 51 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the blockade on Iranian ships and ports. The number of ships is increased by a few each day according to the CENTCOM statements.
TankerTrackers.com first reported on May 2 that it had confirmed an Iranian-flagged tanker named Huge (IMO 9357183), which it had last seen off Sri Lanka, had in fact transited the Lombok Strait of Indonesia. It said the vessel, which is 317,367 dwt and laden with 1.9 million barrels valued at nearly $220 million, was bound for the Riau Archipelago. It is a notorious area for shadow fleet tankers to make illegal ship-to-ship transfers. TankerTrackers.com noted the vessel had been dark for about six weeks, and they believed it had departed Iran just hours before the U.S. started its blockade.
Huge, built in 2008, has been sailing under the Iranian flag since 2015. It is operated by the National Iranian Tanker Corporation (NITC) and is on the U.S. sanctions list.
While only a handful of vessels appeared to have escaped the U.S. efforts, TankerTrakers.com reported on May 3 that it had spotted a second Iranian-flagged tanker taking the same route. The crude oil tanker Derya (IMO 9569700) appears to have been searching for a destination for its cargo of 1.88 million barrels. TankerTrackers.com reported the tanker missed the window of the U.S. waiver to deliver oil to India and had been at sea since mid-April.
Built in 2013, the vessel is also under U.S. sanctions. It entered the Lombok Strait, also heading to the Riau Archipelago.
TankerTrakers.com calculates that, in total, 25 tankers associated with Iran had departed with crude oil cargoes in April, but 15 of them were before the blockade. Since the start of the blockade, TankerTrackers.com reports seven tankers were redirected, and only one, Huge, had reached the Far East. The U.S. also seized two tankers associated with Iran that were accused of being stateless in April. The U.S. is reportedly seeking forfeiture orders from the U.S. courts for those vessels.
Indonesia said it would continue to monitor the situation and “communicate through appropriate diplomatic channels.” However, at least for now, it is not taking any action against the tankers sailing through its waterway.
U.S. Navy Fighter Shoots Out the Rudder of an Iranian Tanker
An F/A-18 Super Hornet takes off from carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (USN)
The U.S. military is matching Iran's new kinetic methods of blockade enforcement, switching to more forceful means to prevent an inbound tanker from running the naval cordon in the Gulf of Oman.
According to the U.S. Central Command, the sanctioned, Iranian-flagged tanker Hasna (IMO 9212917) was under way and attempting to reach a port on Oman's Gulf of Oman coastline. U.S. forces issued several warnings to the Hasna's crew to cease movement or turn around, but the Hasna did not comply.
To enforce the blockade, CENTCOM dispatched an F/A-18 Super Hornet from USS Abraham Lincoln to take kinetic measures. At about 0900 Eastern Time on Wednesday, the fighter used its 20mm cannon to target the vessel's rudder, disabling Hasna and compelling her crew to stop transiting to Iran. (On a large tanker in ballast, the upper half of the rudder is out of the water and vulnerable to targeting.)
"The U.S. blockade against ships attempting to enter or depart Iranian ports remains in full effect," the command said in a statement. "CENTCOM forces continue to act deliberately and professionally to ensure compliance."
The fighter-strike method of blockade enforcement could improve CENTCOM's ability to tighten the interdiction campaign against Iranian shipping, without requiring scarce surface combatants or manpower-intensive boardings. Tanker-tracking experts have observed leakage through the American blockade, particularly westbound tonnage transiting in ballast. These empty tankers are critical to to Iran's ongoing effort to keep oil production high, as the vessels provide extra floating storage - extending the time horizon before Iranian producers have to begin shutting in wells for lack of a place to put more oil. Shut-ins risk damage at wellheads and long-term lost production; the administration has attempted to turn that risk into a ticking countdown clock in a calculated effort to pressure Iran into political concessions. Tanker storage has given Iran the ability to keep pumping for weeks after many analysts' early expectations, thereby lessening long-term economic harm from the blockade and making it easier to resist U.S. demands.
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