Iran regional confrontation

Tehran says its Hormuz understanding with Oman is in its final stages

DIPLOMACY
Location
Strait of Hormuz
Actors
Iran · United States
Importance
Major

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the understanding with Oman on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was “in the final stages” and days away, that it sets out a temporary safe route through the waterway, and that it would be registered with the International Maritime Organization. Brent gave up its gains on the news, slipping to about $96 a barrel.

Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that the text is an understanding rather than a treaty, and that it would be lodged with the IMO, the UN body for shipping. Bloomberg reported that some traders read it as a route to more commercial transits and that Brent reversed a rise to $97.93 to trade 0.1 per cent lower at $96.15. Washington has not accepted an arrangement in which Tehran has a say over which ships cross; no US response to this announcement is on the record. Iran and Oman announced a temporary seven-mile transit route on 26 August, and Tehran set out reopening terms on 28 August; this is the first time either side has named the IMO as the place the arrangement would be filed.

Why it matters

Registering a transit route with the IMO would move Iran’s control of Hormuz from a claim enforced by boats into a document lodged at a UN agency — and it is that filing, not the route, that Washington would have to answer.

Verification: Probable

Evidence: Iran Says Strait of Hormuz Deal With Oman Just Days Away, Iran Says Strait of Hormuz Deal With Oman Just Days Away

A statement by Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, reported by Bloomberg and its syndication. Oman has not published its own account, the text has not been seen, and the IMO has not confirmed a filing.