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Iran Built a Toll Booth at Hormuz: OFAC Just Tore It Down

Alex NavarroSenior Investigative Correspondent

Published August 4, 20267 min read

Shipping container vessels pass by a damaged oil platform in the ocean, surrounded by patrol boats and a larger tug-like vessel. — The Strait of Hormuz has long been a strategic chokepoint for global shipping, now facing new challenges from Iran's financial schemes. Illustration: MarketIntelLabs

Iran Built a Toll Booth at Hormuz: OFAC Just Tore It Down Treasury's July 29 designations exposed a state-licensed insurance architecture designed to institutionalize rent extraction from global shipping at the world's most critical chokepoint. The Finding Iran did not simply create a protection racket at the Strait of Hormuz. It created a regulated financial institution to run one. The Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company (PGMIC) and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, both established in 2026, were designated by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on July 29, 2026.

They were not freelance extortion operations. Both were state-chartered entities: PGMIC backed by Ir…

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