Iran says a deal with Oman on new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz is nearing completion, but the strait stays shut until the United States meets Tehran's other conditions. The standoff continues to threaten a waterway that once carried a fifth of global oil and gas trade, while Houthi forces separately struck a Saudi refinery on Sunday.
Iran said Sunday that an agreement with Oman defining new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz is in its final stage, but the waterway will only reopen once the United States meets other conditions Tehran has set. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made the comments.
Oman-brokered deal nears completion
A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that an agreement between Iran and Oman was close and could soon reopen the waterway. The strait carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before Iran blocked it in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.
The deal would set out the shipping lanes to be used once the U.S. fulfils Iran's conditions and the strait reopens, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Araqchi as saying. Iran and the U.S. are not engaged in talks, and Tehran will not start them as long as Washington breaches an interim deal signed in June, Araqchi said, adding that messages are being exchanged through intermediaries.
Washington ties the blockade to Iran's compliance
The U.S. launched air strikes on Iran in late February, aiming to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons or threatening the region with missiles or proxy forces. A ceasefire followed in June, but Washington reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, which Tehran said broke the truce. Washington will lift the blockade once a deal restoring unimpeded shipping is announced, a U.S. official said, adding that further action depends on Iran meeting its own commitments.
Deal terms remain unresolved
The latest status of the agreement was not clear, and Iran's response suggested other factors would also come into play. Sources had told Reuters a deal appeared to give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the strait, something shippers said was not easily workable.
Araqchi said reopening also depends on U.S. compensation to Iran for the widespread attacks it faced during the conflict. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, secretary of Iran's top national security body, added further conditions: ending U.S. threats against Iran, halting aggression against its regional allies, lifting sanctions and the blockade, and freeing Iranian assets.
Houthi attack on Saudi refinery adds to the risk
Yemen's Houthis, allies of Iran, separately stepped up attacks on shipping tied to the region's crude oil trade, at another chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The group said it struck Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery on Sunday, two days after Saudi Arabia signed a defense pact with Turkey and Pakistan.
A fire broke out at the refinery and was later extinguished with no injuries, the Saudi energy ministry said. A Houthi spokesperson said a drone hit the plant, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Source: Commodities & Futures News
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