Iran Says Talks With Oman on Future of Hormuz in Final Stages

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that negotiations with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz are entering their final stages, with Tehran and Muscat close to agreeing on a new maritime route, Al Jazeera reported.

Araghchi said on Telegram that, in a report to Iran’s cabinet, he described the negotiations between Tehran and Muscat as “on the way to being finalised”. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iranian state television that the two sides were close to a deal on a route through Hormuz separate from existing corridors.

“We are now going to reach an understanding on a route acceptable to both sides – neither the northern route nor the southern route – but one that respects the sovereign rights of both sides and safeguards our national interests and security,” Baghaei said. Muscat did not immediately comment. Both Iran’s and Oman’s territorial waters border the strait, through which about 20 percent of global oil consumption is normally shipped.

Details of the route were not immediately clear. Al Jazeera reported that Iran has effectively maintained control over the strait since the outbreak of war. The report said the US and Israel launched strikes on February 28 aimed at destroying Iran’s missile programme, preventing a nuclear weapon and cutting off support for allied armed groups, while a June ceasefire later collapsed in a dispute over Hormuz shipping routes.

Baghaei earlier said “an understanding between Iran and Oman on a new route has nothing to do with whether the Strait of Hormuz is reopened or remains closed”. He blamed Washington for the closure, citing “the United States’ breach of its commitments, its naval blockade of Iran and all the hostile measures” taken against Iran, according to Fars. Hassam Ghashghavi, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said mediators were trying to revive the June memorandum of understanding with the US, according to SNN.

The comments came after US President Donald Trump said early Sunday that the US and Israel had agreed to halt new attacks on Iran if a deal to end the conflict is reached “rapidly”. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US was “locked and loaded and ready to go” but had agreed to cancel an attack, subject to a deal that “would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Trump by phone to “prioritise dialogue” and “reduce escalation”, the Saudi Press Agency reported.