Iran says Strait of Hormuz shipping-lane deal with Oman is in final stages
Iran said a deal with Oman on new Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes is nearing completion, but reopening remains conditional on United States actions.
Tehran, Iran. Iran said on Sunday that an agreement with Oman defining new shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages, while maintaining that the waterway would reopen only after the United States met further conditions.
Shipping agreement
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the agreement concerning the strait between Iran and Oman was nearing completion, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.
The agreement would establish the shipping lanes to be used after the United States fulfils Iran’s conditions and the strait reopens, Araqchi was quoted as saying.
A United States official told Reuters on Friday that an agreement between Iran and Oman was close and could soon reopen the waterway, which had carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before Iran blocked it in response to United States and Israeli attacks.
Conditions and indirect contacts
Araqchi reiterated comments made on Saturday that the strait would not reopen unless other conditions were met.
He said Iran and the United States were not engaged in talks and that Tehran would not begin negotiations while Washington breached an interim agreement signed in June. Messages were being exchanged through intermediaries, he added.
The United States began air strikes on Iran in late February, saying it aimed to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons or threatening the region with missiles or proxy forces.
Washington agreed to a ceasefire with Iran in June, but reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July. Tehran said the move violated the truce, which it said had already broken down.
United States position
The United States official said that, once an agreement was announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, Washington would lift the blockade on Iranian ports.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said United States actions would be linked to Iran’s implementation of its commitments.
The comments suggested delicate sequencing towards an agreement that sources told Reuters could give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the strait, an arrangement shippers said would not be easily workable.
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