Shortly after the outbreak of the war with the United States and Israel, Iran took control of the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil and gas supplies.By threatening and attacking international shipping, Iran brought maritime traffic to a virtual standstill, giving it significant leverage over its neighbors in the Persian Gulf and the global economy.Now, the Islamic republic is formalizing its dominance over the strategic chokepoint by imposing a new transit regime. That is despite repeated warnings from the United States, which has imposed its own blockade on the strait.Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) -- a new body tasked with vetting and tolling vessels -- went operationally live on May 18.In a post on X on May 20 accompanied by a map, the PGSA outlined Iran’s zone of maritime control in the Strait of Hormuz.It said this covered the area between the line extending from "Kuh-e Mubarak in Iran to the south of Fujairah in the UAE... to the line connecting the tip of Qeshm island in Iran to Umm Al-Quwain in the UAE."It added that "transit through this area for the purpose of passing through the Strait of Hormuz requires coordination with, and authorization from, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority."Iran is, in effect, “converting the strait from a disrupted transit corridor into a state-administered permit and toll regime,” Windward, a maritime intelligence firm, said in a report issued on May 20.Though the PGSA's posts on X are cited by state media, it remains unclear who runs the account, what entity oversees it, or where its offices, if any, are located -- it does not even have a website. Iran-based investigative journalist Fatemeh Karimkhan says "there is no record" of the PGSA's existence."It's astonishing that an unverified Twitter [X] account can control the course of news like this," she wrote on X.'Pipe Dreams'The move by the PGSA drew a sharp rebuke from the United Arab Emirates, which said Iran’s claimed area of control extended to UAE territorial waters."The regime is trying to establish a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or infringe on the UAE's maritime sovereignty are nothing but pipe dreams," Anwar Gargash, a UAE presidential adviser, posted on X on May 21.