Iran says Gulf ministers to sign new Hormuz shipping route deal on Monday

MUSCAT: Foreign ministers from eight Gulf states are expected to meet in Muscat on Monday to discuss a proposed joint Iran-Oman shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said.

Pezeshkian said the ministers would sign an agreement establishing the route and notify the International Maritime Organization of the arrangement.

“This week, on Monday, the foreign ministers of the Arab countries will meet in Muscat to sign an agreement establishing a joint route between Oman and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and to notify the International Maritime Organization of the agreement,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with Indian broadcaster India Today published Saturday.

He added that countries whose territories were allegedly used to launch US attacks against Iran would also participate in the meeting.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Friday that Oman would host a regional ministerial meeting involving eight states bordering the Gulf. He said the talks would address regional developments and the outcome of Iranian-Omani discussions on establishing safe routes for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Baqaei said Iran was working to ensure security in the strategic waterway but warned that the safety of vessels could not be guaranteed while the US naval blockade and military intervention continued.

There was no immediate confirmation from Oman regarding Monday’s meeting or the reported agreement.

The proposed corridor comes amid heightened tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international shipping route through which a significant share of global energy supplies normally passes.

Pezeshkian said Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the United States ends its blockade and attacks.

Commenting on the US war and economic pressure on Iran, Pezeshkian said Washington had failed to achieve its military objectives and had consequently turned to economic measures.

“They could not achieve their objectives through war, which is why they turned to economic pressure, but we will not stop,” he said.

On the US naval blockade, Pezeshkian said Iran was not entirely dependent on maritime routes.

“Maritime routes are certainly not something on which our survival depends, and they will not be able to achieve their objectives in this way either,” he said.

Last Monday, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said an agreement with Oman on a new corridor through the Strait of Hormuz would be signed within days.

Rezaei said the entrance and exit points of the proposed corridor would remain under Iranian control.