Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi made a working visit to Iran for consultations with his counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, and the two ministries issued a joint statement setting out a phased framework for restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
It has two immediate components: a temporary joint navigation corridor, and a joint project to clear the Strait of mines. Technical negotiations are to continue toward a permanent corridor and “future arrangements for managing the Strait.” The statement calls this “a practical and implementable basis, in light of the current situation in the Strait resulting from the recent war and its tragic repercussions,” emphasizes “respecting the sovereign rights of coastal states,” and affirms the importance of joint discussions with the other Gulf littoral states.
This may be the first official document to concede that the Strait is mined, and is the first commitment to de-mine it. Oman and Iran agreed on route coordinates earlier this month; what is new today is the mines and the phasing.
Just after the U.S. Treasury announced an operation to remove from the dollar system any entity trading with Tehran, Iran and Oman published a technical plan for reopening the strait. On Monday the UN Secretary-General offered to register and verify fertilizer cargoes through the same strait—a mechanism he said would be coordinated by Oman.
Two frameworks in forty-eight hours, both involving Muscat, neither Washington.
