Iran has created a new body to manage transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic route through which 20% of the world’s oil transited before its blockade by the Islamic Republic in response to the war started by the United States and Israel.
The Persian Strait Gulf Authority (PGSA) will coordinate the transit of ships that want to pass through Hormuz, state television Press TV reported. “Ships must adapt their operations to this framework and obtain a transit permit before crossing the Strait of Hormuz,” the state channel indicated.
Press TV did not offer more details about the organization’s operation beyond providing an email address to contact it.
The announcement of the creation of the PGSA comes a day after US President Donald Trump reported the start of Operation Project Freedom to remove ships trapped by Iran’s blockade from the area, which he interpreted as an attempt to lift its siege on the strategic passage.
After Tehran launched attacks against US and Emirati ships, Trump announced last night that he was halting Project Freedom to determine whether a final agreement with Tehran can be reached.
The Islamic Republic blocked the strategic passage shortly after the start of the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, which has stopped the movement of oil tankers and caused fuel prices to rise.
Iran has repeatedly announced its intention to formalize charging for transit through the strait with the approval of a bill that has received the green light from a parliamentary committee and that still needs to be voted on in the chamber.
Although the law has not been approved, the country’s Central Bank announced at the end of April that it was already receiving payments from ships for transiting Hormuz.
Rubio’s triumphalism
Meanwhile, the North American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, assured tonight that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28 together with Israel against Iran, has “concluded.” Some contradictory statements regarding what was said just a few hours earlier by Trump, who considered that the war could continue for two weeks or “maybe three.” A calendar, by the way, that has been announcing weeks.
“Epic Fury has concluded. We have achieved the objectives of that operation,” said the head of US diplomacy in a press conference in which he stressed that Washington is in favor of “the path of peace” with a Tehran that, as he has considered, has chosen another path.
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, during a press conference on Iran at the White House, on May 5, 2026.
“The president preferred to sit down and draw up a memorandum of understanding for future negotiations that addresses all the key issues that need to be addressed, a total opening of the straits so that the world can return to normal,” noted Rubio, who went on to point out that the US is “the only nation in the world that can do something to open a passage in the Strait of Hormuz in order to deliver these products and rescue the people trapped there.”
During this press conference, he also called on the Iranian authorities to “accept reality”, “make a sensible decision” and resume dialogue, sitting at the negotiating table, so that “reconstruction, prosperity and stability” can open the way, in the face of the “isolation, economic collapse and total defeat” that, he predicted, Tehran could face.
Along the same lines, after reiterating that the phase of North American military operations in this offensive has come to an end, the US leader has indicated that Washington is now in the stage of Project Freedom, a “humanitarian” initiative announced last Sunday by Trump in order to facilitate the exit of ships trapped in the Persian Gulf due to the closure of the enclave, within the framework of the war between the United States and Iran.
However, a few hours later, the US president himself announced on his social network the suspension “for a short period of time” of said mission in order to “see” whether an agreement with Tehran “can be finalized and signed”, although, all of this with the aforementioned blockade remaining in force.
On the other hand, the Secretary of State has referred to the War Powers Act of 1973, which sets a period of 60 days for the president to end a military intervention or request express authorization from Congress. This is important to the extent that, while some congressmen consider that the deadline for the fight with Iran expired last Friday, May 1 – 60 days after the formal notification of the start of operations -, there are those who maintain that the truce paralyzes the legal account or even allows an additional extension of 30 days.
“The War Powers Law is 100% unconstitutional,” Rubio has defended, intoning a clear alignment with the statements that, days before, the head of the North American Executive himself made in relation to the current regulation on war powers, which guides how their authorization should be. This position, the North American secretary has insisted, is not just his or Trump’s but that of “each and every president who has held this position since the day the law was approved.”
On the other hand, he has indicated that it has been fulfilled “with regard to the notification” because, he has guaranteed, they wish to “maintain good relations” with Congress. “We do not recognize that the law is constitutional. However, we comply with some of its elements in order to maintain (…) good relations with Congress.”
