Why Iran is allowing India, China, Iraq and Qatar to pass through Strait of Hormuz

Since closing the Strait of Hormuz on March 2, following the US-Israeli strike which killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders, Iran has framed Hormuz as its own geographic weapon to leverage and increase its position as a regional superpower. It has maintained that it is open to everyone except its adversaries. On November 3, Amir Hayat Moqaddam, the deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, confirmed that the Strait is open for India, China, Iraq and Qatar.

"Ships from these countries pass freely, and the Americans do not intercept them either," Amir Hayat Moqaddam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

Why is Iran agreeing to that?

Iran's stated reasons are transactional. The Iranian lawmaker who announced the exemptions said India's is meant to facilitate medicine imports into Iran, while China's aims to secure Beijing's political support. Qatar and Iraq are described as "mutual interests." Qatar is also mediating between Tehran and Washington, so favouring it helps keep that channel open. Indian and Chinese ships reportedly pay transit fees, while Qatari ships pass free. In effect, Iran is using access to the strait as currency, rewarding customers, suppliers and mediators while keeping pressure on its adversaries.

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The exemptions help the buyers most reliant on Gulf crude; according to Kpler data, China and India account for 55% of strait crude throughput. But the strait is still far from normal. The EIA estimated that flows averaged 4.9 million barrels a day in Q2 2026, down from 21.6 million in Q4 2025. Selective passage for four countries, with Saudi Arabia left out, doesn't restore that supply. It mostly reshuffles who gets oil and at what cost.

Did the US agree to the blockade?

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said the blockade applies to "all vessels of all nations entering or leaving coastal areas or ports in Iran", while vessels avoiding Iranian ports are not affected. The Iranian lawmaker claimed "the Americans do not intercept them either," but that is his claim, and US authorities or CENTCOM have not publicly confirmed it.

Washington's position has been to favour unrestricted navigation through the waterway without transit charges, and it did not agree to Iran collecting fees. The US has also run a naval blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports since April, and it is now planning to extend that blockade via land. So the US is not formally endorsing Iran's exemptions.