At the narrow mouth of the world's most vital energy corridor, Iran has moved to impose transit fees on foreign vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway carrying one-fifth of global seaborne crude. The measure, approved by Iran's National Security Commission in August 2026, is framed as a service charge but functions as a unilateral toll on international shipping, challenging centuries of maritime custom. Beneath the posture of sovereign assertion lies a quieter and more urgent story: a government hollowed by sanctions, a currency in freefall, and a leadership reaching for the