Iranian lawmakers are advancing a sweeping bill aimed at asserting greater control over the Strait of Hormuz, including restrictions on US and Israeli assets in a waterway through which about one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies passed before the war.
The latest move came Monday, when parliament’s Internal Affairs and Councils Committee approved a provision banning the transit of assets and equipment owned by the United States, Israel and other countries Tehran “hostile,” committee spokesperson Valiollah Bayati said, according to parliament’s official news agency ICANA.
The restriction was among the first five articles approved as lawmakers began a detailed review of the proposed “Strategic Action to Ensure the Sustainable Security of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.”
Representatives from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, armed forces and parliament’s Research Center attended the meeting.
Bayati said the measure was adopted because the countries concerned had used the strait to carry out what he described as hostile actions and attacks against Iran. The remaining articles will be considered at future meetings.
Other provisions under consideration include tighter rules for vessels linked to countries Tehran regards as hostile and charges for maritime services provided to ships using the strait, lawmaker Sodeif Badri said Sunday.
Revenue would be directed toward security, monitoring and development infrastructure.
Badri said parliament was seeking a long-term legal framework for Iran’s management of Hormuz rather than relying on temporary policies, adding that the strait would not return to its pre-war conditions.
The legislation has not yet become law, and the provisions being considered by committees would still require parliamentary approval.
Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, which is leading the review, approved the bill’s general outlines Sunday without opposition among members present, spokesperson Hassan Ghashghavi said.
The Construction Committee has also backed the outlines, while the Internal Affairs and Councils Committee is reviewing parts of the legislation.
The parliamentary effort has gathered momentum since the war, with lawmakers increasingly presenting control of the strait as a strategic lever in Iran’s confrontation with the United States.
The legislation was formally submitted to parliament on July 13. A day later, Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said lawmakers were standing firmly by their “red lines,” particularly over management of Hormuz.
“This is the first step,” Azizi wrote on social media, adding that further measures would “take sleep from the eyes of our enemies.”
By late July, 12 proposals had been referred to Azizi’s committee for consolidation into a single bill, according to parliament’s presiding-board spokesperson Abbas Goudarzi. Nine dealt directly with Hormuz and three proposed changes to Iran’s maritime zones law.
The proposals cover restrictions on navigation, penalties for violations and potential revenues from Iran’s management of the strait, suggesting lawmakers are seeking to turn wartime control of Hormuz into a more permanent legal framework.
Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Saturday that legal proceedings began immediately after Kharrazi's recent remarks and that he had now been summoned to the court, which handles cases involving members of the clergy.
“Immediately after his recent remarks, legal action was initiated to prosecute him,” Jahangir said, adding that Kharrazi's case was under criminal investigation and further details would be released after the proceedings.
‘Islamic Republic doesn't work anymore’
In a video released this week, Kharrazi said the Islamic Republic had “reached a stage where, in this form, it simply doesn't work anymore” and said his organization had already drawn up plans for replacing it with an “Islamic government.”
Kharrazi, who heads the Hezbollah of Iran organization, said his group had produced 60 volumes of plans covering state institutions and had maintained what he described as a “shadow government.”
He also outlined a recruitment drive intended to build a nationwide network of 250,000 supporters, saying it could “surround all the ministries” and converge on Tehran following a single announcement.
“Mr. Khamenei and the government must understand that a 250,000-strong organization stands ready to move,” he said.
Kharrazi also attacked President Masoud Pezeshkian, calling him a “buffoon” who “understands nothing,” and said his government “will not reach its end.”
Claims about Khamenei
Kharrazi is tied by marriage to Iran's ruling family: his sister is married to Masoud Khamenei, a brother of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
He has also presented himself as a longtime confidant of the new supreme leader, saying he has known him for four decades and held numerous private meetings with him. In his latest remarks, Kharrazi said Mojtaba Khamenei's thinking was “far more radical than his father's.” His accounts of private conversations and the supreme leader's views cannot be independently verified.
The leader's office had already publicly rejected earlier remarks Kharrazi attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, including that Pezeshkian's next resignation would be accepted, describing them as unauthenticated and false.
