Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has strongly criticised the European Union’s stance on transit rules in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing it of double standards and “hypocrisy” on international law.Reacting to remarks by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Baghaei said, “Oh, that ‘international law’?! The one that the EU dusts off to lecture others while quietly green-lighting a U.S.-Israeli war of aggression–and looking the other way on atrocities against Iranians?! Spare the sermons; Europe’s chronic failure to practise what it preaches has turned its ‘international law’ talk into peak hypocrisy.”Oh, that ‘international law’?! The one that the EU dusts off to lecture others while quietly green-lighting a U.S.-Israeli war of aggression—and looking the other way on atrocities against Iranians?!Spare the sermons; Europe’s chronic failure to practice what it preaches has… https://t.co/Xv26JrZRnO— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) April 18, 2026He asserted that Iran has the right to take measures in the Strait of Hormuz, stating, “No rule of international law forbids Iran, the coastal state, from taking necessary measures to stop the Strait of Hormuz being used for waging military aggression against Iran.”Rejecting the idea of unrestricted passage, Baghaei added, “And ‘unconditional transit passage’ in Hormuz? That fiction sailed the moment U.S./Israeli aggression brought U.S. military assets into the strait’s backyard.”His remarks came in response to Kallas’s statement emphasising the need to keep the strategic waterway open. “Under international law, transit through waterways like the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and free of charge. This is what leaders made clear in their call on reopening the Strait today,” she said.Warning against any move to impose fees, Kallas added, “Any pay-for-passage scheme will set a dangerous precedent for global maritime routes. Iran has to abandon any plan to levy transit fees.”