The Sultanate of Oman said on Saturday that negotiations with Iran regarding navigation in the Strait of Hormuz are taking place “in a positive and constructive atmosphere,” but it condemned the repeated attacks on ships, while Tehran continues to impose restrictions on navigation in the vital waterway.
In a statement, the Omani Foreign Ministry condemned the “repeated attacks on ships while crossing the Strait of Hormuz,” without explicitly mentioning Iran, adding that “the ongoing negotiations regarding arrangements related to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz are taking place in a positive and constructive atmosphere,” and urged avoiding any actions that could harm the progress made.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday that Iran and Oman were “very close” to reaching an agreement on a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, but noted that this was conditional, among other things, on compensation for what Tehran describes as US violations of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding.
Araghchi added that Iran and Oman are discussing a temporary route for shipping traffic, pending the resolution of technical and legal issues related to a permanent route.
Earlier on Saturday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was unrelated to negotiations between Iran and Oman, but was conditional on the United States accepting Tehran's terms.
The Iranian news agency Tasnim quoted Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hossein Mohebi as saying that “the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is subject to the mechanisms and conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and has no relation to the negotiations between Iran and the Sultanate of Oman.”
A US official said on Friday that progress had been made between Iran and Oman that could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, potentially allowing the resumption of oil exports that have been disrupted by the US-Iran trade war that erupted five months ago.
This comes amid diplomatic efforts to reopen the strategic waterway, through which a large portion of the world's oil trade passes, as disagreements continue between Tehran and Washington over the terms for resuming navigation.
