Top official says Iran, Oman have agreed new temporary route in Hormuz

Kazem Gharibabadi says Iran and Oman had agreed the route’s entry would run through Iranian territorial waters, with part of the exit also passing through them.A top Iranian official says Iran and Oman have agreed on a new temporary route for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but insisted that the waterway will not reopen until the United States fulfils its commitments under an interim peace deal signed in June.The remarks by Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, came on Tuesday, after Iran and Oman’s top diplomats held talks in Tehran to finalise the details of a phased framework for managing the strait.Recommended Stories list of 2 itemslist 1 of 2Sanctions or missiles? How Gulf will view Trump’s new Iran approachlist 2 of 2Iran, Oman discuss temporary shipping lane through Strait of Hormuzend of listIran and Oman, both coastal nations on the strait, have been in on-and-off talks for weeks about controlling traffic through the strategic waterway, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the Tehran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="193589" data-entity-type="event">US-Israel war on Tehran began in February.Most ⁠shipping in the strait has been shut down since then.Gharibabadi, speaking on state television, said Iran and Oman had agreed the new route’s entry “would be through our territorial waters, and part of the exit route would also be through our territorial waters”.The transit corridor would be seven miles (11.3km) wide, he said.“The agreed-upon transit route with Oman is a temporary route,” he added.Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, in Tehran to discuss the temporary navigation corridor as well as a project to clear mines from the strait, according to a joint statement.Albusaidi said on X he hoped the countries would “soon announce” the corridor, adding that “future management of the strait and a permanent solution will follow in due course.”