Iran is preparing an insurance-based control regime for the Strait of Hormuz with prior cargo declarations.

A prior authorisation requirement is still documented only by the specialised press.

Splash 247, in a report dated 22 May 2026, states that Iran is considering managing the Strait of Hormuz through an insurance-based framework . The same report refers to mandatory cargo declarations to a newly created Iranian maritime authority before transit authorisation is granted . The Maritime Executive describes a Persian Gulf Strait Authority presented as self-proclaimed, with an official account on X and moving towards public operation . The article adds that transit authorisation would be preceded by an application containing information on crew, cargo, ownership, insurance, previous port calls and prior routing .

The evidential threshold remains that of specialised press documentation. Insurance Journal reports the launch of a Bitcoin-based Hormuz Safe service, drawing on documents attributed to the Iranian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, but notes that no operational detail is provided . The documents cited in the file do not include any complete Iranian regulatory text .

The declared documents relate to the vessel, cargo and insurance.

The Maritime Executive describes an application for prior authorisation to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority before transit through Hormuz . The required file would reportedly include documents relating to crew, cargo, vessel ownership, insurance arrangements, previous port calls and routing . The information therefore covers the vessel, the transported flow, the apparent economic operator and the risk cover .

According to the same source, vessels linked to Israel would be barred from passage . Traffic linked to the United States and other Iranian adversaries would face severe restrictions . The announced control therefore goes beyond a cargo declaration alone; it combines authorisation, relationship-based origin screening and insurance review .

Splash 247 frames the mandatory cargo declaration in conditional terms, with filing to a newly created Iranian maritime authority before transit authorisation . That limitation should remain visible in any operator file: the exact scope, form, competent authority and enforceability are not established by the available document .

Hormuz Safe adds an insurance layer paid in Bitcoin.

Insurance Journal and Claims Journal report, citing Fars, that Iran has launched a Bitcoin-backed insurance service for shipping companies seeking to transit through Hormuz . Hormuz Safe would be intended for Iranian shipping companies and Iranian cargo owners, according to a screenshot of the site cited by Fars .

Fars, as cited by Insurance Journal, states that the policies would be cryptographically verifiable for shipments passing through the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and neighbouring waters, with settlement in Bitcoin . Cover would begin upon confirmation, with a signed receipt issued to the owner .

The uncertainties remain documentary . Insurance Journal notes that the actual structure and scope of risk cover are not specified . Fars does not set out how the service operates and does not clarify whether it would be open to foreign vessels . The cited articles report that hormuzsafe.ir does not appear to be accessible outside Iran . For an operator file, the verifiable document therefore remains the republication of Fars by those outlets, in the absence of direct access to the system .

The available AIS counts remain fragile.

Insurance Journal reports, on the basis of data compiled by Bloomberg, that daily transits through the Strait of Hormuz fell from about 11 on Saturday to 8 on Sunday, then to 3 on Monday morning . The three movements recorded on Monday morning were all linked to Iran . The same article states that interference affecting AIS obscures observation and that the counts may be revised upwards when vessels reappear outside risk areas .

The stock of immobilised flows is on a different scale. Insurance Journal states that more than 1,500 commercial vessels were stranded in the Persian Gulf in early May, according to the US military .

The reported tolls are not consistent. InvestingLive refers to charges sometimes exceeding 1 million dollars per vessel . The Maritime Executive mentions a cost of up to 2 million dollars per passage, in Bitcoin or yuan .

The operator file must distinguish between requirement, report and sanction.

The risk of US sanctions in the event of payment to Iran is flagged by The Maritime Executive and InvestingLive; the file does not contain any OFAC text cited directly . InvestingLive also reports Iran-Oman discussions on a permanent toll, based on an Iranian envoy . The file should retain time-stamped sources, routing evidence, insurer exchanges, any authorisation requests received, and any evidence of refusal or payment . The characterisation of an applicable obligation should remain suspended pending an official text or verifiable instruction, as the available sources describe a reported mechanism rather than a published regime .