Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) has announced that it is fully prepared to offer maritime services, technical assistance and medical support to commercial vessels operating in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding regional waters.

Unknown actors posing as Iranian authorities are reportedly targeting shipping companies with fraudulent messages demanding transit fees in cryptocurrency in exchange for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has said that providing security in the Strait of Hormuz “is not free”, warning that restrictions on Iran’s oil exports would have wider consequences.

Iran will prioritize vessels that pay to cross the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian official told CNN on Saturday.

At least two U.S.-sanctioned vessels linked to Iran entered the Gulf on Thursday through what appears to be a new route near Iran’s Larak and Qeshm islands, as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained sharply reduced amid the third day of a U.S. blockade.