Iran Says Oman Talks on New Hormuz Shipping Lanes in Final Stage

Iran's foreign minister said Sunday that negotiations with Oman over new maritime routes through the Strait of Hormuz are in their final stages, but cautioned that the agreement would not automatically lead to the reopening of the strategic waterway.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Abbas Araghchi said experts from both countries are currently working on maps for the new routes, which would replace those established in 1968. He described the initiative as a technical and legal matter concerning the designation of shipping lanes.

"An agreement on the routes may be reached, but reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on a separate set of conditions being met," Araghchi said, adding that those conditions are being conveyed through intermediaries.

The Strait of Hormuz is critical to global supplies of oil and natural gas. Araghchi's remarks come amid ongoing tensions with the United States following recent hostilities.

On Saturday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the strait will not open until the United States "corrects its behavior." The council issued new demands, including that Washington permanently end the war with Iran and its regional allies, lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdraw military forces from the area, compensate Iran for war damage, lift sanctions, and unconditionally release frozen assets.

Araghchi also addressed the status of talks with the United States, saying no negotiations are currently underway. "Messages are being exchanged through intermediaries, but that is not negotiation," he said, noting that intermediaries are still trying to lay the groundwork for talks to resume.

He reiterated that as long as breaches of a memorandum of understanding signed in June have not been addressed and the United States has not made up for commitments it violated, there is no possibility of restarting negotiations. That memorandum was intended to end weeks of fighting and reopen the strait, among other terms.