“The first meeting of the Joint Hormuz Committee took place during a trip to Muscat,” said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kasem Gharibabadi on Monday on the online service X.
“While discussing current issues related to the strait, we exchanged views on future management.” Gharibabadi did not specify when the meeting took place. Both Iran and Oman have territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, which is important for world trade, shortly after the US and Israeli attacks began. In mid-June, Washington and Tehran agreed on a framework agreement to end the fighting and reopen the strait. Negotiations are currently underway that should lead to the conclusion of a final agreement within 60 days.
In the framework agreement, Iran promised to allow merchant ships safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for an initial period of 60 days. Iran has promised a transit fee for the period afterwards, which the USA strictly rejects, and is also trying to ensure that the ships use a route on the Iranian coast. In recent days, dozens of ships had used a route on Oman’s coast on the opposite side of the strait.
However, unlike Iran, Oman rejects the imposition of a toll. Rather, the Sultanate is committed to free shipping in the strait, like The Jerusalem Post recently reported. However, Tehran and Muscat want to agree on how they can better enforce their sovereign rights in the Strait of Hormuz.
Negotiations on Tuesday
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz had recently escalated the conflict between the USA and Iran: On the night of Friday and Saturday night, the US military again attacked targets in Iran, which Iran responded to with attacks on the Gulf states of Bahrain and Kuwait. According to the US regional command Centcom, the reason for the renewed fighting was an Iranian drone attack on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to government circles in Washington, the USA and Iran have now agreed to stop the fighting and set a date for new negotiations. CNN reported that negotiations were scheduled to resume on Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha. (AFP, ed.)
