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Iran and Oman have reached an agreement on a new shipping route map for the Strait of Hormuz aimed at ensuring safer maritime navigation, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Saturday.
The agreement follows a June 18 memorandum of understanding between the two countries and three weeks of intensive technical negotiations. Baghaei said the talks made positive progress despite what Tehran described as US obstruction.
“Despite US obstruction, the talks have made positive progress over the past three weeks, and an agreement has been reached on the shipping route map,” Baghaei told Defa Press.
He said the plan was developed through coordination led by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, with the participation of defence, security and environmental authorities.
Baghaei said some issues, including a possible joint statement by Tehran and Muscat, remained unresolved. Negotiations would continue until the process was fully finalised, he added.
The spokesman stressed that the arrangement was an independent agreement between Iran and Oman, the two coastal states bordering the strategic waterway, and was designed to ensure safe passage while respecting the sovereignty of both countries.
However, Tehran said the full restoration of security in the strait and normal commercial shipping would depend on an end to what it described as US military threats and a naval blockade, as well as compensation for alleged US breaches of commitments over the past two months.
The talks are part of a broader framework established under the June 18 memorandum, which tasked Iran and Oman with developing a new navigation framework for the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, carrying a significant share of global oil and gas exports. Any disruption to navigation there could have major implications for international energy markets and maritime trade.
While Iran and Oman have continued technical discussions on shipping routes, Tehran has maintained that the full reopening of the strategic waterway for normal commercial traffic remains contingent on the United States fulfilling its obligations under the memorandum.
