Iran says will discuss Strait of Hormuz with Gulf states on Monday

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the meeting in Oman is to ‘promote better understanding among the countries of the region’.Iran is expected to meet with Gulf states in Oman on Monday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced.In a statement on Friday, the ministry said the meeting is intended to “promote better understanding among the countries of the region and help strengthen shared regional security”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Houthis control key shipping route after gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coastlist 2 of 3‘Blew the hell out of it’: How Iran damaged US bases in Bahrain, Jordanlist 3 of 3Why Pakistan is talking to Iran as the Houthi-Saudi fight escalatesend of listIraq and coastal Gulf nations are expected to participate, the ministry said.Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also said: “Iran remains committed to ensuring the security of navigation in the strait”.For several weeks, Iran and Oman, which both border the Strait of Hormuz, have been discussing how to manage the future of the strategic waterway.Since the United States-Israeli strikes on Iran began at the end of February, the strait – through which one-fifth of world oil supplies flows – has been disrupted and blocked by Tehran.The ongoing blockade has caused oil costs to rise, with prices surpassing $100 a barrel earlier this week.Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu explained that Iran is giving the Strait of Hormuz talks a “wider political spectrum” by inviting other regional countries.“For some time we heard Iranian officials say that the regional issues should be solved by the regional actors, especially when it came to Hormuz,” she said.“So we are hearing from the Foreign Ministry that foreign ministers from the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries and Iraq will be attending this meeting on Monday and the meeting will be held in Oman.”