Iran says Oman shipping-lane pact near as US conditions remain for Strait of Hormuz reopening

Tehran, Iran. Iran said it was nearing a final agreement with Oman on new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, but reiterated that the United States must meet conditions including compensation, an end to sanctions and the removal of military threats before the waterway is reopened.

The strait has been effectively blocked since the US-Israel attacks on Iran on February 28, disrupting a route that carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict.

Navigation talks with Oman

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that discussions with Oman on navigation arrangements were progressing “smoothly and constructively”.

Speaking at a weekly press conference in Tehran, Baghaei said the sides had agreed on a map for shipping routes, while technical issues concerning a joint statement remained unresolved.

He said the talks also addressed safe-navigation mechanisms, environmental protection, maritime services and combating crime. Baghaei added that such services would normally involve payment.

US conditions

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that an agreement with Oman was in its final stages, but said Tehran would not reopen the channel unless the United States met demands set by Iran.

Araqchi said Iran and the United States were not holding direct talks and that Tehran would not begin them while Washington was breaching an interim agreement signed in June. He said messages were being exchanged through intermediaries.

US President Donald Trump told Axios that the United States was “low-keying” its approach to Iran. “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” he said.

Araqchi said reopening the strait would partly depend on the United States paying compensation for damage caused by widespread attacks on Iran.

Security leadership change

Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the outgoing secretary of Iran’s top national security body, said Iran also required an end to further US threats, a halt to aggression against Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies, the removal of a US naval blockade in the Gulf, the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

Iran announced on Sunday that former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei would replace Zolqadr as second-in-command of the body coordinating the country’s security and foreign policy.