NewzIran has said the strait cannot go back to its pre-war status where shipping flowed freely, while Gulf states insist there be no mandatory payment of fees to Iran. TEHRAN – Iran has intensified diplomatic engagement with regional and international partners in an effort to strengthen stability in the Persian Gulf and improve maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz, with senior officials emphasizing closer coordination to address 'insecurity caused by US military actions.' Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran had yet to respond to the Omani proposals, intended to serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. President Donald Trump, who abruptly called off a two-week US bombing campaign over the weekend in his latest strategic U-turn, said there were "good talks" under way with Iran but threatened to restart strikes unless negotiations deliver. Iran denies seeking to resume talks with the United States.
Washington launched its renewed bombing campaign earlier this month to break Iran's grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war. Iran effectively shut the strait to ships other than its own after the United States and Israel attacked on February 28. A deal last month between the United States and Iran partially reopened it, but the agreement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on ships using a channel it does not approve.
Iran has said it wants to manage the strait alongside Oman, which controls the opposite shore, and charge service fees to ships that use it. Washington wants to return to the status quo before the war, when ships were able to pass freely with no payments, and says charging mandatory fees would be illegal. Under the Omani proposal, Iran would not exercise sole control and fees would be voluntary, the Gulf source and Western diplomat briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia's Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations. Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers met via video call on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in the conflict, including ways to intensify cooperation on issues related to freedom and safety of vessels thr…
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