IRAN is seeking to recalibrate its control over the Strait of Hormuz by regulating maritime traffic and establishing a ‘smart management’ system that includes passage fees for vessels traversing the strait. The principal treaty governing these matters is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which establishes the legal framework applicable to passage through international straits. It recognises two principal regimes: innocent passage and transit passage.

Under UNCLOS, innocent passage is defined as passage that is “not prejudicial to the peace, good order, or security of the coastal State”. Activities that render passage non-innocent, expressly include any threat or use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of the coastal state, or in any other manner in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations. Nevertheless, warships enjoy a customary right to innocent passage through straits used in international navigation in times of peace as recognised in the ICJ Corfu Channel case.

Innocent passage is more restrictive of the two regimes and applies within a coastal state’s territorial sea. Ships of all states enjoy the right to innocent passage through territorial seas and such passage must be continuous and expeditious. Under Article 25(3), a coastal state may temporarily suspend innocent passage in specified areas of its territorial sea, without discrimination, where necessary for its security and after due publication.

Article 45 of UNCLOS applies to straits that connect a part of the........

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