sanctions circumvention<\/a> and money laundering risks. Cybersecurity threats, limited global recognition, and geopolitical tensions in the Gulf would further undermine confidence in the programme.\u201d<\/p>\nIran\u2019s effort could also come up against geography. Since April 13, the US has implemented a naval blockade of all ships coming from or going to Iranian ports. It is unclear whether the US would allow vessels that have paid Iran for insurance to transit \u2014 even if Tehran allows them.<\/p>\n
What about regular maritime insurers?<\/p>\n
Since the war began more than two and a half months ago, global maritime insurers have sharply increased war-risk premiums for ships entering the Gulf.<\/p>\n
In March, insurance costs for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz had risen as much as fivefold within days of the first US-Israeli strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n
Several leading insurers, including Gard, Skuld, NorthStandard, and the American Club, announced within days of the war starting that they were cancelling war-risk coverage for vessels operating in the Gulf region.<\/p>\n
Some insurers later re-entered the market with government-backed support. Insurer Chubb joined a $20bn US-supported maritime reinsurance programme aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, offering war-risk cover for hulls, cargo and liability.<\/p>\n
Shipping companies, however, have remained cautious. Several operators continue avoiding Gulf routes, citing crew safety risks and fears of attacks on vessels and seizures.<\/p>\n
Further complicating matters, the United States has warned companies that payments to Iran for safe passage through Hormuz could expose them to sanctions.<\/p>\n
How are countries likely to respond to this?<\/p>\n
So far, no country or shipping firm has announced whether they would take up Iran\u2019s offer if it were to start providing insurance to cross the strategic strait.<\/p>\n
The US and China said this month that no country should be allowed to impose tolls for transit through the strait.<\/p>\n
Following US President Donald Trump\u2019s meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, the White House said the latter had \u201cmade clear China\u2019s opposition to the militarisation of the strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use\u201d, a statement Beijing has yet to dispute.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate opening of the passage, calling for no tolls and \u201cno discrimination\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to academic Khalique, acceptance of the Iranian insurance plan for the Strait of Hormuz, if any, is likely to be \u201climited and highly selective\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCountries already wary of Western sanctions, such as China or some smaller trading states, may consider Iranian insurance if it lowers costs or guarantees passage through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he opined.<\/p>\n
However, most maritime powers and shipping firms are unlikely to go along with it, Khalique said. \u201cInsurance depends on trust, enforceability, and internationally recognised legal standards,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost ports, banks, and shipowners rely on established insurers connected to London, Europe, or Asia. Consequently, the scheme would probably attract only niche or politically aligned participants.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran has moved a step further in its attempts to formalise its effective control over the Strait of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":968688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[12633,13641,1196,774,839,12,28137,1398,49,978,234407,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-968687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-business-and-economy","9":"tag-explainer","10":"tag-insurance","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-oil-and-gas","15":"tag-shipping","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-us-israel-war-on-iran","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116595521177540182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"INTERACTIVE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/INTERACTIVE-IRGC-releases-map-of-control-over-Strait-of-Hormuz-May-5-2026-1777975253.png\")
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