Iran-Oman talks advance on Strait of Hormuz reopening amid war

Cairo,UPDATED: Aug 4, 2026 23:08 IST

Iran and Oman have made progress in talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, in a move that regional officials said could help ease the war in the Middle East. The negotiations are still underway and officials said a final agreement could take a different form, but the emerging arrangement would reopen a key global shipping route that has been largely shut by the conflict.

Under the proposal being discussed, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through a route controlled by Iran and leave through a route controlled by Oman. Service fees would be charged for security and for preserving the maritime environment, two regional officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. They also said any deal would be linked to the lifting of the US blockade on Iran's ports.

Any agreement that formally recognises Iran's control of the strait would be a major strategic gain for Tehran. For that reason, the US could try to block it by refusing to lift the blockade. The strait had been an open international waterway before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the bilateral talks with Oman are focused on "establishing safe inbound and outbound shipping lanes", routes that "uphold sovereign rights while also addressing the national security considerations of both Iran and Oman". "The final results of these negotiations will be announced once concluded," he added, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.

The talks have come as US President Donald Trump faces growing pressure to end a war that has pushed up gas prices ahead of midterm elections and reduced US stocks of some munitions. In recent days, he has shifted between threatening massive strikes and backing diplomatic efforts. On Monday, Trump said the US was in talks with Iran and called it Tehran's "last chance" to reach a deal and avoid another US military escalation. "The first phase is the opening of the straits. The second phase will be the denuclearization," Trump said. "And that will take a little while." Iran has denied it is negotiating with the US and said the talks are only with Oman.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the State Department that "there's been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We're hoping that will happen very shortly." Rubio had previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait, saying last month that it would create a "very dangerous precedent" for other parts of the world. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that "there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict". Asked whether ships would have to pay tolls, Bessent said: "I think it would be freedom of movement, and even though things are still a little dicey there over the past few days, we saw quite a few ships coming out even now."

The possible agreement between Iran and Oman was first reported by The New York Times. Before the war, a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas passed through the waterway. Iranian attacks on ships have largely shut it, driving up the prices of fuel, fertiliser and other goods, and unsettling economies well beyond the Middle East. Iran and Oman had reached an interim agreement in June to reopen the strait and begin 60 days of talks aimed at ending the war and settling the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, but that deal collapsed as fighting intensified around the strait. The deadline for those talks is about two weeks away.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said a cargo ship in the strait off Oman's coast had reported being "hit by an unknown projectile", without giving further details, including the ship's flag or whether it was carrying cargo. British maritime security firm Ambrey said the ship had suffered damage but did not elaborate. In recent weeks, Iran had repeatedly attacked ships using a route close to Oman that is overseen by the US military and was meant to bypass Tehran's control, underlining how closely the outcome of the talks is tied to both maritime security and the wider conflict.

With PTI Inputs

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