Iran and Oman are discussing a temporary transit corridor and mine-clearing for the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran warned Wednesday that the vital waterway will not be reopened unless the US ends the war.
Washington has announced fresh sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran into submission, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatening the Islamic republic with “economic asphyxiation”.
During talks in Tehran, foreign ministers from Iran and Oman discussed a “phased framework” that included setting up a “joint temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to clear the Strait of mines,” according to a statement.
The two countries, both coastal states bordering the strait, have sought to hammer out a plan to regulate transit through it, as laid out in a June US-Iran memorandum of understanding.
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that the proposed framework is “case in point” showing how his country’s “commitment to peace and stability is matched by steadfast diplomacy with our neighbours”.
Nearly six months after the US and Israel went to war against Iran, traffic through the Hormuz strait remains largely paralysed, disrupting global oil markets.
Tehran has blockaded the crucial waterway — which normally carries around one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports — while Washington imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned today that no military vessel will be allowed to pass through the Hormuz Strait.
“We closed the Strait of Hormuz before the US imposed an economic blockade because the US failed to fulfil its commitments under the memorandum of understanding,” Gharibabadi said, according to state news agency IRNA.
Gharibabadi said no military vessels from any country would be allowed through the strait, while Iranian authorities would monitor commercial vessels seeking to cross it.
“Before any action is taken to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US must fully implement all of the commitments it has violated,” he said, calling on the US to end the war, lift its blockade and resolve the situation in Yemen.
Yemen, embroiled in more than a decade of civil conflict, in July became the latest country to be dragged into the Middle East war as the Iran-backed Houthis upended a 2022 truce with the country’s Saudi-backed government.
