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AzerNEWS Staff

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Iran and Oman are close to reaching an agreement on arrangements related to passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said.

AzerNEWS reports that Araghchi made the remarks during a press conference held by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“Discussions are continuing between Iran and Oman on the management and legal mechanisms governing the Strait of Hormuz, including the designation of transit routes. The two countries are very close to an agreement,” Araghchi said.

However, he added that reopening the Strait of Hormuz would depend on other conditions, including compensation for what Iran considers violations by the United States of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

Araghchi said a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) had previously been in place in the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran now considers the existing system unacceptable for vessel transit. He said a new TSS should be established, although this would involve a number of technical and legal complexities.

“Taking into account the technical and legal complexities, negotiations are currently underway on a temporary route. This new temporary route will serve as the basis for the main route,” Araghchi said.

He added that Iranian and Omani military and naval forces had already held discussions based on existing maps. Once those discussions are concluded, a new transit route will be determined, he said.

The Iranian foreign minister also said Tehran had been implementing Article 5 of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding with the United States. According to Araghchi, the agreement envisaged the normalization of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz within one month, while vessel traffic had returned to around 60% of normal levels within two weeks.

However, he said the US sought to establish new routes in the Strait of Hormuz. Despite warnings from Iran, Washington allegedly attempted to undermine the management of the strategic waterway, Araghchi said, arguing that it was therefore unacceptable to claim that Iran had violated the memorandum.

Tensions between Iran and the United States escalated again on July 8. On that day, the US armed forces reportedly launched several waves of strikes against Iranian territory, which Washington described as a response to an attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes came after the memorandum had been signed between Washington and Tehran.

US President Donald Trump also announced that the ceasefire with Iran had been terminated that day.

In response, Iran began striking US facilities located in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Iran currently considers the Strait of Hormuz to be closed, according to the Iranian side.