An understanding between Iran and Oman establishes a basis for reopening the Strait of Hormuz but does not provide for its immediate reopening, an Iranian source told the semi-official Tasnim news agency Saturday, as Tehran prepared for talks with Gulf states.
The source said the arrangement would be a step towards Iran exercising sovereignty over the strait and that reopening depended entirely on the United States meeting Tehran’s conditions.
Separately, a senior Iranian official said a meeting planned for Monday in Oman would offer an opportunity to discuss the blockaded waterway and other regional issues, but was not expected to produce a signed agreement on Hormuz.
Iran has been negotiating for months with Oman, which controls the opposite bank of the strait, over an arrangement governing shipping through it. Oman has long said the negotiations have the support of other Gulf Arab countries.
Tehran announced on Friday that it planned to attend Monday’s meeting. Oman has not officially announced the gathering, while other regional states have largely remained silent. Bahrain said Saturday it would not attend meetings with Iran.
The senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting had been called at Oman’s initiative.
Iran still seeks an agreement allowing it to collect fees from ships using the strait, a proposal Oman rejects, the official said.
About a fifth of global oil supplies passed through Hormuz before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, launching the war.
Global oil prices have surged over the past week after US and Iranian forces both fired on tankers in the strait. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have also advanced near another crucial oil shipping route, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula.
