Iran says it has agreed Strait of Hormuz shipping route with Oman

Iran says it has reached an agreement with Oman on a route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei did not give any further details on the agreement, which he statedwas “in the final stages”.

Baqaei warned however that a deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation through the strait on its own, arguing that security remains impacted by the US blockade of Iran’s ports. The US and Oman have not commented on the proposal.

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, Tehran has largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes. Since then, worldwideoil rateshave fluctuated wildly.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump warned that Iran would be “hit very hard” if the strait did not open “very soon”.

His comments came after senior US officials statedtalks had progressed to allow shipments to potentially to resume later this week, though Iran has maintained that it is not negotiating with the US and has no plans to do so.

Reopening of the strait has been a key point in discussions between the two countries and mediators.

In his statement, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman statedthe “geographical coordinates of the route” had been agreed with Oman.

“The factors making the Strait of Hormuz insecure still exist on the part of the United States, particularly the naval blockade and other aggressive and threatening actions against Iran and its interests,” he said, as perIran’s representativeIrna news agency.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi later told Irna that the new route would be temporary and could stay open from two to four months. He did not give further details.

Since the beginning of the war, traffic through the strait has dwindled. Iran has statedall passage needs to be cleared beforehand – and it has attacked vessels which have ignored the order.

One of the main points of disagreement between Tehran and Washington has been Iran’s threat to impose a fee on vessels wishing to cross the strait.

On Wednesday, Iranian officials did not say if this issue formed part of the talks with Oman.

In June, Iran and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aiming to stop fighting, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and reach agreement to end the war within 60 days.

The deal quickly fell through, as did diplomatic talks, with tit-for-tat attacks resuming just days after the MoU was signed.

The US has maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the region, while another blockade is in place on Saudi Arabia’s ports in the Red Sea, imposed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis since 20 July.