Iran agreed to allow 20 ships flying Pakistani flags to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Islamabad called this move an important step to alleviate one of the most serious energy crises in modern history.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced this decision on March 28 on social network X. He said that, according to the agreement, 2 ships will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz every day.
The top Pakistani diplomat described Iran's decision as a "signal of peace", which could help restore stability to the region, and called it a "positive and commendable gesture of goodwill".
Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar's post directly mentioned US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
This shows that Islamabad is participating in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, considering this agreement not just a bilateral transport agreement.
Pakistan has a 900km long border with Iran. The announcement on March 28 was the result of a week of increased Pakistani diplomacy. Chief of the Army General Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, spoke with US President Donald Trump last weekend. Foreign Minister Dar also spoke by phone with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts.
The Strait of Hormuz has been almost closed since the US and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and sparking conflict that killed thousands of people in Iran and Lebanon, while shocking the global market.
The Ormuz Sea is not just an oil throat. It is the artery valve of globalized manufacturing and like every valve, when it fails, the entire circulatory system will collapse" - former Qatari official Mohammed Al-Hashemi wrote on Al Jazeera this week.
It is estimated that about 2,000 ships are stuck at both ends of the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil prices to exceed the 100 USD/barrel mark, an increase of about 40%.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has turned this strait into a form of "control point". Ships wishing to pass through must provide cargo information, lists of sailors and destinations to intermediaries approved by the IRGC, receive passport codes and be escorted through Iranian territorial waters.
At least 2 ships paid to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, estimated at about 2 million USD per trip, paid in Chinese yuan.
The Iranian Parliament is promoting the legalization of this mechanism as a potential source of revenue.
On March 27, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Malaysian ships had been allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and thanked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Since the Iranian conflict broke out on March 28, only about 150 ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz, equivalent to the traffic volume of a normal day. Maritime traffic through this route has decreased by 90%.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that global trade is experiencing "the worst disruption in 80 years".
