The Islamic Republic of Iran created the Persian Gulf Strait Authority to collect tolls for ships seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz’s international waters. The normal toll? $2 million. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly controls the Authority.

That matters because the U.S. designates the Revolutionary Guards in its entirety as a terrorist group. This means that any country paying tolls on behalf of its ships is financing terrorism and should be subject to sanctions. At the same time, with Pakistani mediation, President Donald Trump’s negotiating team is negotiating with Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the parliament and an ambitious four-time presidential loser best known to Iranians for his combination of ambition and corruption. Ghalibaf, however, is not the only would-be power broker in the Islamic Republic; indeed, it is not clear he holds any sway among the Iranians whose adverse actions Trump seeks to change.