Sovereignty Support Movement Sovereignty for West Asia
from the News Desk at The Cradle, July 15, 2025
According to data released by the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) on 14 July, more than 200 non-Iranian vessels applied for passage permits and insurance coverage during the three weeks between the signing of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MoU) and the resumption of the US war against Iran.
The authority approved 79 percent of requests with insurance issued, while 14 percent remained in progress. Permits took an average of 50 hours to process.
Tankers made up the largest share of applicants at 41 percent, followed by bulk carriers at 27 percent and container ships at 18 percent.
Requests were split almost evenly between vessels exiting the Persian Gulf at 53 percent and those entering at 47 percent. China and India each accounted for roughly a fifth of outbound destinations.
The figures cover Iran-approved crossings only, excluding transits through the southern Omani route escorted by US forces.
During the three weeks following the signing of the MOU and prior to the recent hostile actions by the US forces that led to the closure of the #Strait_of_Hormuz, over 200 non-Iranian vessels coordinated with #PGSA to receive passage permits and insurance coverage.
Details: https://t.co/GVBaZ9kL05 pic.twitter.com/geU32o4rsH— PGSA | نهاد مدیریت آبراه خلیج فارس (@PGSA_IRAN) July 14, 2026
On Tuesday evening, Washington reimposed its blockade of Iranian ports, targeting vessels transiting “to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday scrapped his one-day-old proposal for a 20 percent fee on all cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, saying on Truth Social that “highly productive conversations” with regional leaders led him to replace the charge with trade and investment deals from Gulf states, after announcing a “FULL Blockade” against Iranian ports and vessels.
This follows the collapse of the Iran–US memorandum of understanding (MoU) after both sides declared the agreement to be null following more than a week of US provocations, violations, and continuous attacks across the Islamic Republic.
Over 180 Iranian lawmakers signed a 14 July parliamentary declaration pronouncing the Iran–US MoU “dead” after continuous US attacks, adding that Washington’s termination of the understanding proved that disputes with the US cannot be resolved through negotiation.
Prior to the reimposition of the blockade, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to its lowest level in two months due to renewed US strikes on Iran and attacks on vessels, with only around six ships transiting the waterway on 12 July as crews increasingly switched off tracking transponders
Bloomberg reported on 9 July that Iran had rushed to dispatch oil tankers carrying roughly 11 million barrels of crude within 24 hours as tensions with the US flared following Trump’s blockade threats.
