Pakistan: Iran agrees to allow an additional 20 Pakistani ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz

Good news has emerged regarding the navigation status of the Strait of Hormuz early Sunday morning Beijing time.

According to reports from CCTV News and other media, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar announced on social media that the Iranian government has agreed to allow an additional 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with two vessels passing through the strait each day.

Dar stated that this is a positive and constructive gesture from the Iranian side, which is commendable. This action is a positive signal for peace and will help promote regional stability.

Dar also wrote at the end of his post, “Dialogue, diplomacy, and such measures to build mutual trust are the only way forward.”

According to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, Dar had a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian that day, where both sides exchanged views on the current regional situation and the latest developments.

Reconstructing Navigation Order in the Strait

As the US-Israel-Iran war enters its second month, the navigation status in the Strait of Hormuz remains far below pre-war levels.

As of the latest intelligence before publication, a total of four vessels that can be tracked completed navigation on Saturday local time, including two liquefied petroleum gas carriers and two bulk carriers. All four vessels have entered Iranian waters, transiting through the narrow passage between Qeshm Island and Larak Island, indicating that the navigation itself was approved by the Iranian side.

According to trading intelligence data platform Kpler, since the war began on February 28, the number of vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz has remained low, with a maximum of about 10 vessels navigating in a day, far below the nearly one hundred vessels prior to the war.

(Source: Kpler)

It should be noted that due to ongoing electronic interference during the war disrupting the vessel tracking systems in the region, ships in high-risk areas may also proactively turn off their AIS transponders, further reducing the timeliness and reliability of tracking data. Therefore, Wall Street traders and analysts from research firms are also assessing the situation in the strait through satellite imagery. As vessels safely navigate the strait and restore communication, the final navigation data may be revised upward.

Meanwhile, “navigation actions” in the diplomatic field are also ongoing. In recent days, both the Malaysian and Thai governments have announced that they have received commitments from Iran to allow their vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The Indonesian government has also confirmed that it is in close communication with Iran regarding the release of two stranded oil tankers.

On March 11 of this month, Iran stated that its forces fired on a cargo ship flying the Thai flag, “Mayuree Naree,” which caught fire and ran aground in northern Oman after being struck by an unidentified projectile. Three crew members are still missing, while 20 others were rescued.

(Local time March 11, 2026, Strait of Hormuz, Iran, the Thai-flagged cargo ship “Mayuree Naree” caught fire after being attacked by an Iranian missile)

Additionally, reports indicate that the Iranian parliament is seeking to enact legislation to impose fees on vessels attempting to safely navigate the strait.

Preliminary calculations suggest that the strait typically sees 20 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products passing through daily, equivalent to 10 very large crude carriers (VLCCs). If a fee of $2 million is charged per vessel, it could generate $600 million in revenue in a month.

(Source: Caixin)