Iran official says Hormuz transit fees have basis in international law
A senior Iranian environmental official has defended proposals to charge environmental fees to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, saying the measure has a legal basis under international maritime law.
Arman Khorsand, head of international affairs and conventions at Iran’s Department of Environment, said such fees could be used to compensate for environmental damage inflicted on the Persian Gulf.
The proposal to levy charges on vessels passing through the strategic waterway has been raised previously in Iran. Khorsand's remarks focused on providing a legal justification for the idea, arguing that international maritime law offers grounds for collecting environmental fees from transiting ships.
He said revenues generated through such charges could be directed toward environmental protection and restoration efforts in the Persian Gulf.
Iran International has obtained documents indicating that a Chinese company, working with firms in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, helped Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) acquire chemicals used in the production of ballistic missiles.
The documents, obtained by the hacker group Prana and shared with Iran International, suggest Chinese entities also played a role in facilitating the transactions through a network of companies designed to navigate US sanctions.
The documents also link the deadly explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas on April 26, 2025, to a shipment of sodium perchlorate, a chemical used in solid missile fuel production.
According to the documents, the blast and existing sanctions made it increasingly difficult to find vessels willing to transport such cargo to Iran.
Central to the network described in the documents is Haokun Energy, a company that for years acted as an intermediary in the sale of IRGC oil to Chinese refineries and was sanctioned by the United States four years ago for financing the IRGC's Quds Force.
A source familiar with the matter told Iran International that the company still owes the IRGC more than $1 billion in oil revenues.
In one document, Haokun refers to an agreement with a company called Golden Globe Demir Celik (GDCP) concerning the supply of chemical products for special equipment. The document states that, to preserve confidentiality, export-related permits were issued through classified channels.
In another section, Haokun says it established a company called Mosta to obtain bank guarantees. The company is reportedly controlled by GDCP because, for sanctions-related reasons, no Iranian national can serve on its board of directors.
Haokun says that, in coordination with Chinese customs authorities, activities were conducted through confidential channels and requested that its Iranian counterpart prevent any disclosure of information.
Elsewhere, Haokun says it planned to ship 2,000 tons of sodium chlorate and 10,000 tons of sodium perchlorate to Iran through GDCP. The documents indicate that quantity would be sufficient to produce solid fuel for roughly 2,500 ballistic missiles. The shipment was valued at $43 million.
GDCP is registered in Turkey, but leaked emails from the company were signed by an Iranian national, Mohammadreza Sadr. In its correspondence, Haokun identifies GDCP as belonging to the Islamic Republic. One of the leaked emails included a Haokun letter addressed to “Commander Mohammadzadeh.”
The individual appears to be Ahmad Mohammadzadeh, the former deputy coordinator of the IRGC Navy and a former governor of Bushehr under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran International previously reported that he was among the key figures in the Pourjafari Headquarters, an IRGC oil-sales network that used a complex structure to import gold in exchange for oil exports.
The documents also link GDCP to other figures associated with the IRGC’s commercial and procurement networks. According to the documents, the company is responsible for procuring raw materials used in ballistic missile fuel and for selling oil on behalf of the IRGC.
One document shows GDCP preparing to sell two million barrels of oil from Kharg Island to Fortune Company in the United Arab Emirates. Another records a transfer of roughly $3 million in cryptocurrency to GDCP, while a separate document indicates the funds were deposited into an account at the Borj-e Aseman branch of Tourism Bank in Tehran.
According to the documents, a significant portion of oil-sale revenues is being used to purchase sodium perchlorate from China. Haokun, which brokers the transactions, is attempting to repay hundreds of millions of dollars owed to the IRGC through the sale of weapons, missile-fuel materials and other goods.
A year ago, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reported that, as part of an oil-for-goods barter arrangement, Haokun sold two Airbus A330 passenger aircraft to the Islamic Republic for $116 million, despite their market value being estimated at roughly $60 million.
Reports of sodium perchlorate shipments from China to Iran have surfaced repeatedly over the past year.
On March 7, The Washington Post reported that two sanctioned vessels linked to the Islamic Republic had departed China's Gelaowan Port bound for Iranian waters carrying sodium perchlorate, a key component in solid missile fuel. On April 3, The Telegraph reported that five ships carrying sodium perchlorate had arrived at Iranian ports.
Neither Beijing nor Tehran has publicly confirmed such shipments. The documents reviewed by Iran International provide what appears to be the clearest documentary evidence to date linking Chinese entities to efforts to supply the IRGC with materials used in ballistic missile fuel production.
On May 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused China of assisting the IRGC in acquiring components used in ballistic missiles. China rejected the allegation.
A week later, US President Donald Trump said that China's president had assured him that no weapons would be supplied to Iran.
ran's military and cyber apparatus are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools including ChatGPT and Gemini to support cyber operations, intelligence gathering and military research, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The report, citing cybersecurity researchers and Iranian officials, said Iranian-linked actors have used AI systems to improve phishing campaigns, generate malicious code, create convincing online personas and identify vulnerabilities in target networks.
Researchers told the newspaper that artificial intelligence has lowered the barriers to conducting cyber operations, allowing Iranian hackers to produce more sophisticated content and operate more efficiently.
The Financial Times said Iranian authorities have also promoted broader military applications of AI, including research into drone technology, electronic warfare and battlefield decision-making systems.
According to information obtained by Iran International, Ashkan Maleki and Mehrdad Mohammadinia, two protesters arrested during Iran’s national uprising in January 2026, are at imminent risk of execution.
Sources familiar with the case say both men could face the implementation of their death sentences in the coming days, raising concerns among rights advocates over the use of capital punishment against detainees arrested during anti-government protests.
Further details about the timing and circumstances surrounding the possible executions remain unclear.
Military action ordered by President Donald Trump gave US negotiators unprecedented leverage in talks with Iran, former deputy special presidential envoy Morgan Ortagus said in an interview with Fox News.
"The president has done something that no other president has done," Ortagus said, arguing that military attacks ordered by Trump had significantly set back Iran's nuclear program.
She accused Iran of failing to negotiate in good faith and described Iran's government as a "theocratic revolutionary regime" that does not respond to financial incentives.
"You're dealing with somebody who cannot be bought off. I don't think that financial incentives are going to motivate this regime because at their core, they are a theocratic revolutionary regime," she said.
"They are a regime of terrorists. They're the world's leading state sponsor of terror," she added.
Iran will apply its own amendments to the draft memorandum of understanding in talks with the United States, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported, citing an informed source.
"The exchange of texts is continuing, and Iran will naturally apply its own amendments to the text as well. Nothing has been finalized yet," the source was quoted as saying.
The source said amendments proposed by President Donald Trump did not mean they had been accepted by Iran, adding that Tehran was fully prepared if no agreement is reached.
