Oman, Iran Agree on Temporary Maritime Corridor in Strait of Hormuz
TEHRAN -- Iran and Oman have agreed to establish a temporary joint maritime corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and carry out a joint mine-clearance project, according to a joint statement issued Tuesday following talks between their foreign ministers.
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, after a working visit to Tehran and talks with his Iranian counterpart Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, said he was hopeful the two countries would “soon announce a temporary corridor for the Strait of Hormuz and practical arrangements to restore safe navigation”.
The proposed framework, described by the two ministers as a “phased framework” that could provide a “practical and workable basis for moving forward,” includes the establishment of a temporary joint navigational corridor and an agreement to clear mines from the strategic waterway.
Technical negotiations will continue toward a permanent navigation corridor and a future adminis
tration of the strait, the statement said, along with mechanisms for information exchange, traffic management and the provision of maritime and security services.
Albusaidi said the future management of the strait and a permanent solution “will follow in due course, as per article 5 of the Islamabad Memorandum”.
Article 5 of the June ceasefire agreement calls for Iran to ensure safe passage of commercial shipping through the waterway and to consult Oman on the strait’s future management, including maritime services.
The two sides also emphasized the importance of holding joint consultations with other regional countries bordering the Persian Gulf and called for compliance with applicable international law and respect for the sovereign rights of coastal states.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil demand passes, has remained under heightened restrictions since the start of the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran on February 28. Iran’s effective blockade of the waterway has caused energy prices to surge, fueling global inflation.
Earlier this month, Araghchi said Iran and Oman were “very close” to reaching an agreement on a new mechanism for managing shipping through the strait, while stressing that its full reopening depended on U.S. compliance with its obligations under the Islamabad memorandum.
Iranian officials have insisted that the strait will not fully reopen until the United States meets Tehran’s demands, including lifting its naval blockade, dropping oil sanctions and unfreezing Iranian assets abroad.
In a New York Times opinion piece published Monday, the editorial board stated that the United States should accept Iranian control of the strait and allow Tehran to charge service fees for transit, describing this outcome as “the least bad option”.
The board noted that private shippers have balked at risking crews and cargoes for less-than-perfect security, allowing Iran to suppress traffic without attacking every vessel. ‘
Long-term, American-led operations to ensure safe passage “would risk U.S. casualties and burden American taxpayers,” the board said, arguing that tolls would be a better financial deal for the United States and the world than a prolonged semiclosure of the strait .
The New York Times had previously reported that the emerging deal would give Iran “vastly more leverage over the strait than it had before the war,” with ships heading into the strait passing through an Iranian-controlled channel and being charged a “service fee”.