Iran, Oman inch closer to Hormuz shipping route deal amid Gulf tensions

Iran and Oman have moved closer to an agreement on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran announcing that the two countries have settled on the geographic coordinates of a proposed route through the world’s most important oil chokepoint — though a full reopening of the waterway remains uncertain amid continuing Gulf tensions.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday that a joint statement with Muscat was in its final drafting stage and under review, covering technical, legal, security and environmental points. He said negotiations were moving forward and that a deal could be concluded provided “certain third parties” did not obstruct the process, an apparent reference to Washington.

What the proposed corridor would do

According to Iranian state media and other reporting, the plan would establish a new “middle corridor” jointly controlled by Iran and Oman, combining the existing northern lane in Iranian waters and the southern lane in Omani waters into a single two-way route. Reports indicate the arrangement would give Iran oversight of vessels entering the Gulf in exchange for reopening the strait, with one senior Iranian official saying it would also allow Tehran to monitor traffic in Oman’s territorial waters.

Much of the framework appears to build on a memorandum of understanding that Iran and the United States signed on June 17, under which Iran agreed to allow commercial vessels to pass without charge for 60 days. Vague wording in that document, however, left open who ultimately controlled the strait and which routes ships could use — a dispute that has fed the current round of talks.

The dispute over fees and control

At the heart of the disagreement is Tehran’s insistence that it can charge fees for passage and require vessels to obtain permission to transit, on the basis of what it calls its rights as a coastal state. The United States and Gulf partners argue that navigation must remain free under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and critics warn that an Iranian role as gatekeeper would set a precedent at odds with long-standing maritime norms.

Baghaei stressed that the Iran-Oman understanding alone could not guarantee safe navigation while what Tehran describes as a US naval blockade and other measures against Iran remained in place. Iranian state television said the reopening of the strait ultimately depended on a change in US behaviour, while other Iranian outlets insisted the talks with Oman had “nothing to do with” the United States.

US officials have offered a different account. President Donald Trump said in a television interview that Washington was part of the Hormuz negotiations and that they were progressing, warning that the strait would open “very soon” or Iran would “get hit very hard.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has framed the shipping talks as separate from the broader, unresolved dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

A waterway under strain

The Strait of Hormuz, at its narrowest only about 34 kilometres wide between Iran and Oman, normally carries roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil. It has been severely disrupted since a wave of US and Israeli strikes began in late February and Iran responded by targeting shipping, effectively bringing much of the traffic to a halt and leaving vessels stranded inside the Gulf.

A June ceasefire collapsed within weeks in a dispute over Hormuz shipping, and fighting reignited in July before pausing again. Tensions have remained high: a cargo ship was reported struck by an unidentified projectile off Oman this week, and commercial traffic through the waterway is still heavily disrupted.

Analysts caution that even a signed Iran-Oman agreement would not necessarily reopen the strait immediately, and that the outcome hinges on parallel moves by Washington and on the many issues that remain unresolved between Iran and the United States.

Note: Iran’s account of the agreement is based on statements by its Foreign Ministry and state media; Oman had not published matching details at the time of writing, and the reported terms had not been independently confirmed.