OMAN: A meeting between Iran and Gulf states planned for Monday in Oman will be a chance to discuss issues including the Strait of Hormuz, but is not expected to yield a signed agreement over the blockaded waterway, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.
Iran has been negotiating for months with Oman, which controls the opposite bank of the strait, over a deal that would govern transport through it. Oman has long said its negotiations are supported by other Arab countries in the Gulf.
Tehran announced on Friday that it was planning to attend a meeting with Gulf countries in Oman on Monday. Oman has not officially announced the meeting and other regional states have so far remained silent. Bahrain said on Saturday it would not attend meetings with Iran.
The Iranian official, who discussed the plans on condition of anonymity, said Monday’s meeting was called at Oman’s initiative, and would provide a forum to discuss other regional issues as well as Hormuz.
According to the Iranian official, Iran still wants an agreement that would allow it to collect fees from ships that use the strait, which Oman rejects.
Around a fifth of global oil supplies transited the strait before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, launching the war.
Global oil prices have surged over the past week after the United States and Iran both fired on tankers in the strait, and Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen advanced near another crucial Middle East conduit for oil, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula.
Source: Reuters
