Dubai: Tehran has ruled out Oman’s proposal for regional joint management of the Strait of Hormuz, saying it has no chance of success, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are trying to pressure Oman to advance their “unrealistic plans” regarding the strategic strait, the official added.
The rejection comes a day after Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, laid out Tehran’s own proposal for reopening the strait.
Also read: Iran proposes temporary Hormuz plan to Oman, giving itself greater control over transit lines
Speaking to state television on Tuesday, Gharibabadi said Iran had offered Oman a temporary arrangement under which one direction of shipping traffic would pass entirely through Iranian waters, with part of the opposite route also falling under Iranian control.
Gharibabadi said Tehran had rejected an Omani plan for an equal, 50-50 division of transit routes between the two countries, arguing that such a formula did not address Iran’s security concerns until long-term regional stability is achieved.
He said the strait would remain closed if Muscat rejected Iran’s proposal, and added that Tehran had never recognised the southern shipping route along Oman’s coast.
Oman’s proposal, according to Reuters, is reportedly backed by other regional states and modelled on the Strait of Malacca framework, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask vessels to voluntarily contribute fees for navigation and safety services. Under Oman’s plan, Iran would not exercise sole control of the Hormuz waterway.
Gharibabadi also said Tehran had told Muscat it no longer recognises the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), the route adopted by the International Maritime Organization that runs roughly through the middle of the strait and lies mostly in Omani waters.
He said the TSS was incompatible with Iran’s need to monitor vessels transiting the strait after the US and Israel struck Iranian targets on February 28. The TSS is currently considered unusable due to the risk of mines and has been effectively replaced by Iran’s northern route and Oman’s southern route.
“This is for national security and not bullying, because when the TSS was for 60 years in Omani waters, we didn’t say anything,” Gharibabadi said.
The Iranian diplomat also warned that Tehran would not allow any third country, even one invited by Oman, to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz.
Also read: Houthis pushing to model Iran’s Hormuz control in Red Sea, Yemeni FM says
Iran effectively shut the strait to all vessels other than its own after the US-Israeli strikes in February. A deal between Washington and Tehran last month had partially reopened it, but the arrangement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on ships using a channel it does not recognise.
Gharibabadi added that Tehran has no plans to negotiate with Washington directly, even as talks with Oman continue “step by step.”
