Iran and Oman have reportedly agreed on Details of new entry and exit routes for the Strait of Hormuz, with the two countries set to brief other Gulf nations on the outcome of their consultations at a regional meeting in Muscat on Monday.
Citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the understanding was reached after “intensive technical and diplomatic talks between Iran and Oman, which culminated in a final agreement in late August.”
Under the proposed arrangement, the entry route from the Gulf “lies entirely within Iran's territorial waters”, while part of the exit route also falls “within Iranian territorial waters”, Tasnim reported, quoting sources.
The routes would operate under Iranian arrangements, the source said. Once the new system becomes operational, the southern route would be closed. The United States had insisted that the southern route be opened, according to the source.
“The understanding in no way means that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” the news agency's source said, adding that Iran had seven conditions for reopening the waterway and had conveyed them to the United States.
The source said transit along the new route would be governed by Iranian protocols. The southern route, which the US had insisted on opening and which had been a primary source of recent tensions, would be closed once the new arrangement is implemented.
Tasnim reported that further details of the Iran-Oman understanding would be presented to the Persian Gulf littoral states at a meeting scheduled for Monday.
However, the participating countries will only be briefed on the outcome of the Iran-Oman negotiations. The specifics of the understanding were finalised during technical meetings held exclusively between Iran and Oman, according to the source.
Earlier while talking to Al Jazeera, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei that foreign ministers from the Gulf littoral states are scheduled to meet in Oman on Monday to discuss regional issues, including the Iran-Oman talks on establishing safe routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Baghaei said the meeting would "hopefully" be attended by the foreign ministers of the Gulf states, as well as representatives from Iran and Iraq.
An Iranian commercial vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island, killing one of its 10 crew members and injuring four others, Iranian state media said.
State-run IRNA quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a "terrorist enemy". He said authorities had not yet identified the projectile.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor reported that a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, without providing further details.
There was no immediate statement from the US military, which had previously struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while facing a new threat in recent days from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships, as reported by AP>
Qeshm Island, located about 22 kilometres from the port city of Bandar Abbas, is key to Iran asserting control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
