Iran rejects Oman's equal split of Hormuz transit lanes and offers a counterproposal

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said in comments to Iranian state media on Tuesday, 28 July 2026 (6 Mordad 1405), that Tehran rejects Oman's proposal for an equal division of maritime transit routes between the two countries, because the plan does not address Iran's security concerns. It is Tehran's first explicit answer to the plan Muscat had put forward.

According to Al Jazeera, the Omani proposal is for a joint regional mechanism to manage the Strait of Hormuz with "voluntary fees", modelled on the Strait of Malacca in East Asia, an arrangement under which Iran would not hold sole control of the strait. Gharibabadi said Tehran has instead proposed that Iran manage shipping through its own side of the strait while Muscat manages part, but not all, of the opposite lane. Al Jazeera correspondents in Tehran reported that Oman is now suggesting three traffic lines: one through Iranian territorial waters, one international, and one through Omani territorial waters.

Gharibabadi added that Tehran has "no plans to negotiate with the US" but said talks with Oman are proceeding "step by step". Points of contention remain over the trajectory of ships, the level of fees, who defines the arrangements, and responsibility for mine clearance. Before the war began on 28 February 2026 (9 Esfand 1404), the Strait of Hormuz carried one fifth of global energy supplies.