Iran says an agreement with Oman establishing new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz is in its final stages, but Tehran has warned that the strategic waterway will not be fully reopened unless the United States meets several demands.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the proposed agreement would define shipping routes between Iran and Oman that could be used once the US fulfils conditions set by Tehran.
The comments come as Washington and Tehran remain without direct negotiations and tensions continue over shipping through the strategically important Gulf waterway.
Araghchi said on Sunday that the agreement with Oman was nearing completion but repeated Tehran’s position that reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on US action.
Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted him as saying the agreement would establish the new shipping lanes to be used once the United States meets Iran’s conditions and the waterway is reopened.
A US official told Reuters on Friday that Iran and Oman were close to an agreement that could help restore safe passage through the strait.
The official said that once an agreement to restore unrestricted commercial shipping is announced, the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports.
Araghchi said reopening the Strait of Hormuz would partly depend on Washington providing compensation for damage caused by attacks on Iran.
Iranian security official Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr also listed several other demands.
They include:
- An end to further US military threats against Iran.
- A halt to what Tehran describes as aggression against Iran and its regional allies.
- Removal of a US naval blockade in the Gulf.
- Lifting US sanctions on Iran.
- Release of frozen Iranian assets.
- Compensation for damage caused by US attacks.
The United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran more than five months ago. US President Donald Trump has said the campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and reducing its ability to threaten the region.
Iran and the United States are not currently holding direct negotiations.
Araghchi said Tehran would not enter direct talks while Washington was violating an interim agreement reached in June. He added that messages between the two sides were being exchanged through intermediaries.
Trump told Axios that Washington was taking a low-key approach toward Tehran, saying the United States was only “semi-negotiating” with Iran while watching the country’s economic difficulties.
The United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in June, but Washington reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July. Tehran said the move violated the truce, which had already broken down.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy route connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the wider Arabian Sea. Restrictions on shipping through the waterway have raised concerns over international oil and gas supplies.
The reported US-Iran sequencing suggests that reopening commercial shipping could depend on coordinated actions by both sides rather than a single agreement taking effect immediately.
The situation has been complicated by attacks involving Iran-aligned forces elsewhere in the region.
The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday that Iran had attacked a ship affiliated with its state oil company. Iran did not immediately comment. Its Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously attacked vessels it said attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz without Iranian permission.
Meanwhile, Yemen-based Houthi forces have increased attacks on shipping around another major maritime chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis also declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, citing what they described as a Saudi siege in Yemen. Riyadh has denied the allegation.
The Houthis said they attacked a Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan on Sunday. The attack came two days after Saudi Arabia signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan amid wider regional instability.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry confirmed that a fire occurred at the refinery but said it was extinguished and caused no injuries. It did not provide a cause for the fire.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, describing it as a broader commitment to regional security.
Fighting has also intensified between the Houthis and Yemen’s government forces. Yemen’s military said seven people, including military personnel and civilians, were killed in a Houthi attack on the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Monday.
The military said air defences intercepted and destroyed 11 Houthi drones involved in the attack.
The immediate focus is on whether Iran and Oman can finalize their agreement on shipping lanes and whether Washington and Tehran can reach an understanding on the conditions linked to reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Any agreement would require careful coordination over the sequence of US and Iranian actions, particularly given the absence of direct negotiations and continuing military tensions across the region.
If implemented, the arrangement could provide a framework for restoring commercial shipping through one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
