Iran's 'pay up or get blown up' threat: Map shows mined Strait of Hormuz as oil prices surge

 Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard may have put sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the war, a chart published by semi-official news agencies in the country on Thursday suggested. 

Tehran has also begun demanding massive cryptocurrency fees from passing ships as oil prices skyrocket during the fragile first days of a two-week ceasefire.

Charts dated from February 28 until April 9 were published by  news agencies ISNA and Tasnim on Thursday, showing a large circle marked 'danger zone' in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme.

This was the route ships used to take through the strait - a narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 per cent of all oil and natural gas traded once passed.

The message may be intended to pressure the United States as uncertainty hangs over the ceasefire and further negotiations are set to begin in Pakistan on Friday.

On Wednesday, Iran warned that oil tankers will be destroyed if they try to travel along the strait without permission, as it seeks to retain control over the passage during the ceasefire.

A radio message was broadcast yesterday by the regime to all oil ships in the vital waterway, saying: 'If any vessels try to transit without permission, [they] will be destroyed.' 

The Islamic Republic is now reportedly demanding that shipping companies pay enormous tolls in cryptocurrency to access the passage, which usually handles around 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas.

Meanwhile, oil prices climbed and most stocks fell Thursday on fears over the nascent US-Iran ceasefire after Tehran threatened to resume hostilities as Israel launched a major bombardment of Lebanon.

Equity markets across the globe soared and crude plunged Wednesday after US President Donald Trump announced the two-week halt in the war, and the Islamic republic said it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz as peace talks took place.

But with the deal less than a day old, cracks were already appearing as Tel Aviv said it did not include Israel's fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon as it continued attacks on its northern neighbour.

That view was echoed by Vice President JD Vance, who said: 'If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart... over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that's ultimately their choice.'

Iran said that broke terms of the deal as reports said the vital Hormuz waterway - through which a fifth of world oil and gas passes - was shut again. 

However, that came as Tehran announced alternative routes for ships travelling through the Strait, citing the risk of sea mines.

The country's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X that the 'workable basis on which to negotiate' had already been violated, making further talks 'unreasonable'.

He listed three alleged US violations of the truce plan: the continued attacks in Lebanon, a drone entering Iranian airspace and a denial of the country's right to enrichment.

Hezbollah said Thursday it had fired rockets towards Israel in response to its 'violation', while UN boss Antonio Guterres warned Israel's strikes on Lebanon posed a 'grave risk' to the truce.

Fears that the ceasefire could fall apart while crude remained stuck in Hormuz saw both main crude contracts rise more than 3%, following sharp losses on Wednesday.

Most equities also gave up some of their gains. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul and Mumbai were all down, though there were gains for Sydney, Taipei, Bangkok and Wellington.

London, Paris and Frankfurt fell in the morning, with US futures also in negative territory.

Key figures at around 8.10am GMT:

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.1 percent at $97.32 a barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 3.3 percent at $97.87 a barrel

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 55,895.32 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,752.40 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,966.17 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 10,591.02

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1660 from $1.1667 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3393 from $1.3405

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.92 yen from 158.35 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.07 pence from 87.22 pence

The future of the strait is a major sticking point between Washington and Tehran, with US President Donald Trump calling for the free flow of maritime traffic to be restored.

'Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out of the strait to ensure these two weeks aren't used for transferring weapons,' Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran's Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union, told the Financial Times.

'Everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush,' he added.

Each vessel will have to first email the authorities about its cargo, after which Iran's Supreme National Security Council will alert them about the toll to be paid in digital currencies.

Hosseini said the toll would be $1 per barrel of oil, adding that empty tankers can pass freely.

His statements imply that Tehran will demand that vessels use the northerly route close to its coastline, raising concerns over whether western or Gulf state-linked tankers will be willing to risk transit. 

'Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can't be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,' Hosseini told the newspaper.

Western ship owners announced yesterday they were adopting a cautious approach, while waiting for updates on how and whether the waterway might reopen. 

And ship-tracking data from Kpler showed that only four vessels with their automatic identification system (AIS) trackers on passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the first day of the ceasefire.

However, that does not include so-called dark fleet vessels, which travel with their AIS trackers turned off.

Many of those dark fleet ships carry sanctioned Iranian crude oil out to the open market.  

The White House rejected the toll payment idea, only for Donald Trump to later tell reporters it could be done as a 'beautiful' joint venture with America. 

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night, the US President made it abundantly clear that the two-week ceasefire was dependent on 'the Islamic republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz'.

In contrast, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said traffic will flow 'via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due considerations to technical limitations', raising concerns about the future of not just for oil and gas - but also jet fuel, sulphur, urea, and diesel.

Trump posted a statement insisting that his surge of warships and troops will remain around Iran 'until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with'.

'If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the 'Shootin' Starts,' bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,' Trump wrote.