How Are Iran and Oman Shaping the Future of Strait of Hormuz Management?

Iran and Oman begin their first talks on Strait of Hormuz administration under a new MoU framework, signaling efforts to shape regional maritime cooperation.

As part of the interim Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Tehran and Washington signed earlier this month, Iran and Oman held their first official discussions on Monday over the future management of the Strait of Hormuz. As part of the first meeting of the Hormuz Joint Committee, which was formed after the temporary US-Iran agreement to discuss future arrangements for navigation through the strategic waterway, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said he met Oman's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abdulaziz al-Hinai in Muscat.

For over four months, the Hormuz closure caused global supply chains to be disrupted and energy costs to spike. Omani and Iranian territorial seas make up the strait through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas moved before the war, but neither can normally impede passage or impose tolls under customary international law.

"While reviewing current issues related to the strait, we exchanged views on the future management of the Strait within the framework of paragraph five of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and the sovereign rights of the coastal states." – Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister.

The framework deal, which was signed on June 17 by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran and US President Donald Trump while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, was called into question by a series of gunfights. The agreement was meant to pave the way for a final solution between the two to put an end to the conflict that has plagued the Middle East and impeded the movement of gas and oil through the crucial canal. The two parties agreed to negotiate a final agreement under the 60-day framework that would address Iran's nuclear program, the lifting of sanctions, and the Strait of Hormuz's long-term position.

According to the reports tracked by CIO Bulletin, Iran will choose the future management of the strait in consultation with Oman and the other Gulf States, "in line" with international law, according to the published language of the memorandum of agreement.