While Tehran reviews a U.S. memorandum on ending the conflict — under which Iran would freeze nuclear enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief and release of frozen funds — Iran simultaneously launched the Persian Gulf Strait Authority this week, a new agency to approve ship transits and collect tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, per Lloyd's List.
The sequencing is the tell. Iran's IRGC Navy has threatened non-allied vessels and laid mines since the war began February 28. The U.S. Navy blockaded Iranian ports starting April 13. Institutionalizing a toll authority mid-negotiation isn't bureaucratic housekeeping — it's leverage codification. Whatever deal gets signed, Tehran wants a recognized revenue mechanism over the world's most critical chokepoint to survive it.
Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir are mediating. Said Pakistani FM spokesperson Tahir Andrabi: "We remain positive, we remain optimistic and we hope that a settlement will be sooner rather than later." Optimism is cheap. The toll booth is structural.