Iran and Oman have agreed on a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday. He said the waterway would not be considered open until the United States fulfils commitments under an interim peace deal signed in June.
The route’s entry and part of its exit would pass through Iranian territorial waters, Gharibabadi said. The agreement follows talks in Tehran between the countries’ foreign ministers on managing traffic through the strategic waterway.
A phased framework for navigation
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi discussed the navigation corridor and a project to clear mines from the strait, according to a joint statement. Albusaidi said the countries hoped to announce the corridor soon.
The framework is intended to manage shipping while the two countries work on a longer-term system. Future technical discussions are expected to address how vessels receive information and how navigation and security services operate.
Related coverage: Iran and Oman weigh a temporary shipping route through Hormuz.
Key points
- The planned transit corridor would be seven miles (11.3km) wide.
- Iran and Oman describe the route as temporary, with a permanent arrangement to follow later.
- Technical talks are planned on information sharing and navigational and security services.
- The strait handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February.
Mines and the wider dispute
Passage through the strait remains dangerous. The United Kingdom’s maritime trade watchdog said an oil tanker was disabled by an unidentified projectile near Oman’s Ash Shishah, close to the strait’s entrance, on Tuesday.
Gharibabadi rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that mines had been cleared from the strait’s international waters. He said US mine-detection vessels would be treated as targets if they entered the area.
More context: What ship traffic reveals about control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The route discussions follow the collapse of an interim US-Iran deal after disputes over a separate corridor backed by the United States and running along the Omani coast. Iran says the United States must provide sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian assets before diplomatic efforts can resume.
What happens next
Technical talks are planned to develop the long-term arrangement, while Oman says the countries intend to announce the temporary corridor soon.
Also read: Iran threatens retaliation as US prepares new economic sanctions.
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