An Iranian Lawmaker Says Indian Ships Can Pass Hormuz Freely, but Delhi Has No Formal Word, Explained

An Iranian lawmaker has said merchant ships from India can "pass freely" through the Strait of Hormuz. New Delhi, on the reporting available tonight, has not been told that officially, and the procedures Indian ships already follow have not changed.

On Tuesday, 4 November 2026, Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, deputy chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) that Iran has exempted vessels from India, China, Iraq and Qatar from transit restrictions in the strait. Hindustan Times, in a report by Rezaul H Laskar updated at 19:35 IST, quoted him: "We have currently exempted India, China, Iraq and Qatar from transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Ships from these countries pass freely, and the Americans do not intercept them either."

That is his account. It is not a confirmed change in Indian government policy. The Hindu BusinessLine, in a report by Amiti Sen updated at 8:10 PM the same day, said Tehran has not officially communicated any such exemption to New Delhi, and that there has been no change in the existing procedures for Indian ships transiting the waterway. A source tracking the matter told BusinessLine: "There is no clarity on the matter of exemption from navigation restrictions, and it is not known under what authority that statement was made. According to the Indian Mission (in Tehran), apparently there is no change in the current procedure."

The 60-second version

• The claim: Hayat-Moghaddam told ISNA that India, China, Iraq and Qatar are exempt from Hormuz transit restrictions, and that their ships pass freely. Hindustan Times, updated 19:35 IST on 4 November 2026.
• The stated reason for India: to facilitate medicine imports from India. The Chinese exemption, he said, is to secure Beijing's political support. HT and The Times of India.
• The fees: he said Iran collects transit fees from Indian and Chinese vessels, and that Qatari vessels pass without charges. He did not say whether Iraqi vessels pay. HT.
• The Delhi caveat: BusinessLine (Amiti Sen, updated 8:10 PM) said there is no official communication to New Delhi, no change in procedures for Indian ships, and no clarity on whether the Iranian government or the IRGC endorsed the claim. The Indian Mission in Tehran apparently sees no change.
• Why the route still matters: HT said almost 90 percent of India's crude needs are imported, about 30 percent of that crude now comes via Hormuz (70 percent before the conflict), 90 percent of LPG imports transit the strait, and more than 50 percent of LNG from Qatar and the UAE does too.
• The spelling: HT and BusinessLine use Amir and deputy chairman. The Times of India (edited by Prisha Patnaik, 16:49 IST) uses Ahmad and vice-chairman.

What the lawmaker said

Hindustan Times reported that the exemptions are aimed at shoring up Iran's interests with these countries. He said, speaking in Farsi, that Iran is facilitating the passage of Indian ships so it can import medicines from India, while the exemption for Chinese shipping is aimed at securing China's political support.

On money, HT reported that Iran collects transit fees from Indian and Chinese vessels and allows Qatari vessels to pass without charges. He did not specify whether Iraqi vessels have to pay.

The Times of India carried a shorter version of the same ISNA remarks and quoted him saying, "We are doing business," adding that Tehran also collected money from Indian and Chinese vessels. TOI described the setting as a meeting on economic and security conditions. HT described an ISNA interview. Both outlets attribute the quotation to ISNA. TOI's wording of the exemption line was: the four countries are free to pass through, and the Americans have no issues with them either.

BusinessLine, which also traced the remarks to ISNA as reported in local media, said the lawmaker indicated the Indian exemption was to facilitate medicine imports and the Chinese one was to secure Beijing's political support. It added that India is a significant supplier of pharmaceutical products to Iran, and that moving those supplies through the Gulf is understood to be one of Tehran's interests in keeping trade links with New Delhi. BusinessLine presented that as context, not as an Indian confirmation of a new corridor.

None of the three reports quote an Indian ministry, the IRGC, or a written Iranian government order putting the exemption into force.

Why Delhi's reading is the part that matters

BusinessLine's sourcing is the check on the headline. The paper said:

• Tehran has not officially communicated any such exemption to New Delhi.
• There has been no change in the existing procedures for Indian ships.
• There is no clarity on whether the Iranian government or the IRGC endorsed the claim.
• The Indian Mission in Tehran apparently sees no change in the current procedure.
• The lawmaker's statement does not establish whether a formal exemption has been operationalised, or whether it applies to all Indian-flagged vessels and cargoes.
• New Delhi is yet to receive an official communication from Tehran clarifying the reported arrangement.

Until one of those points moves, Indian shipowners do not have a new rule they can act on. They have a statement from a parliamentary committee deputy chairman, reported by ISNA and then by Indian papers, and a Mission in Tehran that, according to BusinessLine's source, sees the old procedure still in place.

The name itself is not stable across outlets. Hindustan Times and BusinessLine write Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, deputy chairman. The Times of India writes Ahmad Hayat-Moghaddam, vice-chairman. This piece follows HT and BusinessLine for the name, and flags the TOI spelling wherever that paper is the source.

What Hormuz still means for Indian energy

The exemption claim landed on a route India has been trying to rely on less, and still cannot avoid for some fuels.

Hindustan Times reported these figures on 4 November:

• India imports almost 90 percent of its crude oil needs.
• About 30 percent of those crude imports currently pass through Hormuz.
• In the past the strait accounted for 70 percent of India's crude imports. HT said the share has fallen because New Delhi has diversified toward Russia, the United States, West Africa, and Fujairah in the UAE since the West Asia conflict began.
• 90 percent of India's LPG imports still transit Hormuz.
• More than 50 percent of India's LNG imports from Qatar and the UAE move through the waterway.
• The strait is also crucial for India's fertiliser imports.
• Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, currently accounts for almost 25 percent of global sea-borne oil supplies originating in West Asian countries.

HT also wrote that after Iran's decision to close the strait and impose restrictions on merchant shipping, India has repeatedly called for unimpeded movement of energy supplies and freedom of navigation in international waterways. That "decision to close" is HT's description of the backdrop. It is separate from the lawmaker's exemption claim, and BusinessLine's sources say the practical procedure for Indian ships has not changed.

The oil-market context of the past few days, including a reported US strike on Qeshm Island near the strait's entrance, is in our Qeshm and oil prices explainer.

The rules, and the attacks, have not paused

Hayat-Moghaddam's line that Americans do not intercept the four countries' ships is his claim, as carried by HT. Other published descriptions of the passage regime are stricter.

HT reported that the European Union has said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy requires ships to provide identification and information on their cargo and destination in order to secure passage.

HT also cited the International Maritime Organization: at least 70 attacks on merchant ships between the start of the conflict in February and August, and those attacks killed 19 seafarers. The same HT report said 15 seafarers are among 24 Indians killed so far in the West Asia conflict.

The Times of India, earlier on 4 November, used a different toll. It said the death toll from attacks on merchant shipping had risen to 23. The two papers do not match. This piece does not pick a number. HT's figure is 24 Indians, of whom 15 were seafarers. TOI's figure, limited to attacks on merchant shipping, is 23.

TOI's latest incident is the Indian-flagged dhow MSV Al-Jusufi, struck by an unidentified aerial object near Oman's coast. Thirteen crew were rescued by the Omani Coast Guard. One Indian sailor, Gandhar Nahim Ajij of Gujarat, died. What the shipping minister and the Ministry of External Affairs have said about that attack is in our Al Jusufi explainer.

TOI also reported that the Directorate General of Shipping had earlier advised ship owners and recruitment agencies against sending Indian nationals aboard vessels transiting Hormuz. TOI said the advisory was not binding. The Forward Seamen's Union of India, TOI reported, has said more than 4,000 Indian sailors remain aboard vessels in the region.

A lawmaker's promise of free passage does not retire that advisory, and it does not, on BusinessLine's account, change the procedure the Mission in Tehran is still describing.

What to watch next

1. A formal note, or an explicit denial. BusinessLine said New Delhi had not received an official communication by the time of its 8:10 PM update. Any MEA or shipping-ministry line that confirms, narrows, or rejects the claim is the next fact that matters.
2. Who in Tehran owns the statement. The open question BusinessLine's source put on the record is whether the Iranian government or the IRGC endorsed Hayat-Moghaddam, and under what authority he spoke.
3. What ships actually meet at the strait. Watch whether Indian-flagged vessels are waved through, whether transit fees are still collected from Indian and Chinese ships, and whether Qatari ships continue to pass without charges, as he told ISNA via HT.
4. Seafarers. The DG Shipping advisory TOI described is still the public Indian guidance in that report, and it is not binding. The Forward Seamen's Union figure of more than 4,000 Indian sailors in the region is the scale of the exposure.
5. Fuels that have not been diversified away. HT's split is the one to keep: about 30 percent of crude imports go through Hormuz now, against 70 percent in the past, 90 percent of LPG imports still transit the strait, and more than 50 percent of LNG from Qatar and the UAE still uses the waterway.

Until Tehran writes it down, and Delhi says the procedure has changed, Indian ships are where BusinessLine's source left them: on the existing rules, not on a new exemption.

---

This explainer is drawn from Hindustan Times (Rezaul H Laskar, updated 19:35 IST on 4 November 2026), The Hindu BusinessLine (Amiti Sen, updated 8:10 PM on 4 November 2026), and The Times of India (edited by Prisha Patnaik, 16:49 IST on 4 November 2026). The lawmaker's remarks are attributed as those outlets attributed them, to the Iranian Students' News Agency. The absence of a formal exemption is BusinessLine's reporting from sources, including its account of the Indian Mission in Tehran. Death-toll figures differ between HT (24 Indians, 15 of them seafarers) and TOI (23 from attacks on merchant shipping) and are left with those outlets. It will be updated if New Delhi or Tehran issues a formal statement.