Tehran/Doha, September 13, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Iran and Oman have reached an agreement on details of new entry and exit routes for the Strait of Hormuz and will brief Gulf countries on the outcome of their consultations at a regional meeting in Muscat on Monday, Iranian officials said.
Citing a source close to Iran’s negotiating team, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the understanding followed intensive technical and diplomatic discussions between the two countries, culminating in a final agreement in late August.
Under the arrangement, the entry route into the Gulf would lie entirely within Iranian territorial waters, while part of the exit route would also pass through Iranian territorial waters, the source said.
The source stressed that the routes would operate under Iranian arrangements and that the southern route through the waterway would be closed once the new system becomes operational. According to the source, the United States had insisted that the southern route be opened.
The source also made clear that the agreement does not amount to a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The understanding in no way means that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” the source said, adding that Iran has seven conditions for reopening the strategic waterway and has conveyed them to the United States.
The waterway will remain closed unless those conditions are implemented, with any reopening dependent entirely on US actions, the source said, according to Xinhua news agency.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday that foreign ministers of Gulf littoral states were scheduled to meet in Oman on Monday to discuss regional developments, including the Iran-Oman consultations on establishing safe routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Baghaei said the meeting would “hopefully” include foreign ministers from the Gulf states as well as Iran and Iraq.
“As part of the agenda, we are going to brief the delegations about the results of the Iran and Oman consultations regarding the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, noting that the consultations were conducted by Iran and Oman as the two coastal states of the strait.
Late last month, Iran and Oman said in a joint statement that they had exchanged views on a proposed phased framework that included establishing a temporary joint shipping corridor through the waterway.
Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Tehran restricted passage through the strategic waterway, while US forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels travelling to and from Iranian ports.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Arabian Sea and is one of the world’s most important routes for oil and gas shipments. Iran and Oman, which occupy opposite sides of the strait, have continued consultations on maritime security and navigation in the strategically vital waterway.
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