Ex-Aussie Lecturer Backs Iran's Strait Toll

0:00It's April 1st. Welcome in. This is Sydney News Today, where local news meets AI. I'm Corey with the story. A next Australian university lecturer named Tim Anderson showed up in an Iranian State TV video backing their new toll system for ships passing through. The Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, once the charged foreign merchant vessels for safe passage, calling it a regulatory shift. In claims, shipping insurance firms are already on board with the rules. Iran's parliament just greenlit the toll plan earlier this month, but it still needs buy-in from neighboring countries. Reports suggest some ship owners have showed out up to $2 million to get through. The United States labelled it the Tehran toll booth and says they won't let Iran enforce it. Folks like Canadian activists Demitri Lascaras joined Anderson on the tour, praising Iran's role in securing the Strait for global oil and gas flows. Anderson, once a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney until his firing in 2019,

1:02insists half the world has accepted Iran's. Control there. Iran has hit several oil tankers in the Strait amid ongoing conflicts, killing some crew and slashing ship traffic big time, that has shipping companies on edge about the risks. University of Sydney stayed mum on their former staffer, while Anderson denied getting paid for the spot. With tensions high, I stay glued on how the Strait's showdown plays out for world trade.