Iran and Oman have agreed on a temporary maritime route for ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Tuesday. He, however, warned that the waterway will not fully reopen until the United States fulfils its commitments under an interim peace deal signed in June, which has since lapsed. The US-Israel war on Iran, which began with strikes on Tehran on February 28, has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, sending global energy markets into crisis.
The narrow waterway through which one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies from Gulf producers are shipped in peacetime has become a major bone of contention between Washington and Tehran, and disagreements over the critical channel continue to hinder any hopes of a lasting peace plan. Since the US bombing of parts of Iran in July following more disputes over the strait, Iran has refused to hold direct talks with it. Even though active warfare has since paused again – replaced by a strategy of piling economic pressure on Iran – it has maintained that it will speak directly to only Oman about the future of the waterway, which passes through the territorial waters of the two countries.
Here is what we know about the new route they have agreed on. Before the war on Iran began, more than 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from the regional producers passed through the strait, which is the only sea route connecting the Gulf to the open ocean. About 130 ships crossed the strait every day.
Just before the war began, the price of Brent crude – the global benchmark for oil – was about $66 a barrel. Following the attacks on Tehran, which were carried out as talks between Iran and the US were underway in Oman, Iran closed the strait in early March, allowing only a few ships it deemed “friendly” to pass through. In April, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a route map to those ships allowed to pass.
This routed traffic much closer to the Iranian coast than they had previously sailed and designated a large section of Omani territorial waters as “restricted”. The US has previously accused Iran of placing mines in the strait. While Iran has not confirmed this, it stated at the time that following its designated route would minimise the risk of encountering them.
Below is a map of the route approved by Iran in April: The US later enforced a naval blockade of Iranian ports in and around the strait in a bid to cripple the country by restricting its fuel exports. The war and ensuing regional tensions resulted in global energy shortages, especially in Asia where countries are particularly dependent on shipments from the Gulf, and crude prices soared. Over the course of the war, the price surged past $100 on several occasions, most recently on July 23.
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