Iran on Saturday said it was “very close” to reaching an agreement with Oman on a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that “Negotiations with Oman regarding the legal mechanism and management of the Strait of Hormuz regarding determining the route of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz are underway, and we are very close to an agreement.”
However, Araghchi added that “the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is subject to other conditions, including compensation for violations of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding by the United States.”
Araghchi said talks with Oman were still under way and that the two sides were working on a temporary route because of technical and legal issues involved in setting up a permanent arrangement.
Iranian foreign minister said Iran had been implementing Clause 5 of the memorandum and that traffic was supposed to return to normal within a month, adding it had reached “60 percent of normal conditions within two weeks.”
However, he accused the US of seeking to establish new routes through the Strait of Hormuz, despite warnings from Tehran.
Araghchi said negotiations with Oman were focused on establishing a temporary shipping route before a permanent route is agreed.
“Before reaching a new route, a temporary route will be considered as the basis for the main route.” In this regard, he said, negotiations have been held between the two countries’ military and naval forces based on existing maps, and upon the conclusion of these negotiations, the new route will be determined.
The statement comes as US officials voiced optimism over ongoing negotiations related to the Strait of Hormuz, while reaffirming the commitment to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is in sight, after President Trump warned that the latest round of negotiations with Iran is the “last chance” to bring an end to the conflict. Trump had also indicated that an agreement was imminent. But a deal still has not been announced yet.
JD Vance says ‘Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll Hormuz’
US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News’ “Saturday in America” that the “Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz.”
He made the remark after being asked by host Kayleigh McEnany about what an acceptable outcome for the Strait of Hormuz would look like.
“Well, our expectation is you’re going to see the same amount of oil and gas come out of the Gulf that you saw before the conflict started. That is what the Iranians have told us that they are going to do. That’s what the entire Gulf coalition wants to do as well. But, you know, we don’t trust, we verify,” Vance said.
“You see, some people within the Iranian system, of course, talk about tolling. The Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz. But again, we’re going to see what actions actually happen,” Vance continued.
“What’s been going on for the past week or so is that the Iranians and the Gulf countries, particularly Oman, have been talking about how to ensure the safe flow of traffic. The one problem, of course, is the Iranians laid a large number of mines at the beginning of the war. And so what we’re really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships that pass can pass through safely. That includes, of course, demining,” Vance also said.
The vice president said the U.S. wants “a commitment from the Iranians that they’re not going to fire at commercial vessels.”
“They’re hurting in a big way. They want this thing to be over,” Vance said. “The question is whether they’re able, their system is able, to give the things that are necessary for us to be happy, for us to feel like we’ve gotten what we need out of this particular engagement. That is still to be determined. But I do think that we’ve made some progress over the last few days.”
