Iran-Oman Hormuz transit fee plan faces industry resistance over sanctions

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water where many ships carrying oil and other goods travel.

Iran and Oman are neighbors who want to make a deal about who controls this waterway.

The deal would let Iran check and control ships coming in and charge them money.

Iran wants to charge ships between 5 and 7 percent of what their cargo is worth.

Oman thinks a smaller fee of about 3 percent is better, while the United States says no fees at all.

Many shipping companies do not like this idea and say charging ships to pass is like a toll.

They say it breaks rules that were set up for ships passing through international waters.

There is another problem: the United States has sanctions on the Iranian authority that runs the waterway, so companies that pay may get into trouble.

Insurance companies also added a rule that stops covering ships that pay such fees.

This puts ship owners in a hard spot, so the deal is very hard to make work.