Iran is seeking fees of 5 to 7 percent of cargo price from ships using the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. Oman is discussing about 3 percent. Washington wants no fees at all. [1] Leading shipping associations told the U.N. agency this week that compulsory charges were "a toll in all but name." [1] Friday publishes no tariff.

The paper's Thursday feature already named the catch-22. IRGC media listed insurance, fueling, and environmental fees. [2] The associations listed a precedent that breaks the law of the sea.

The International Maritime Organization's governing council said in July that passage through the 1968 traffic-separation scheme should remain free of tolls and charges. [1] U.S. sanctions on the Persian Gulf Strait Authority and Treasury's ban on receiving Iranian "guarantee of safe passage" services make any payment a freeze risk. [1] Lloyd's Market Association's late-July war-risk clause terminates cover if a vessel has paid a transit fee, toll, or other charge. [1]

Saudi media's senior source said there are no transit fees. [2] Three numbers and a denial are not a published tariff. Trade desks do not know how to price a number that voids the policy. Friday still prints the percentages, the clause, and the word toll. None of those numbers appeared on a published schedule. All of them appeared in the same news cycle.

-- HENDRIK VAN DER BERG, Brussels