‘Voluntary Fees’: Oman Offers Iran A Gulf-Backed Plan To Manage Hormuz

Oman has proposed a Gulf-backed plan to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, including optional transit fees, according to Reuters on Tuesday.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran has yet to respond to Oman’s proposal, which is intended to help resolve disruptions to maritime trade following the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

US President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign over the weekend, saying “good talks” were underway with Iran while warning that military strikes could resume if diplomacy failed. Iran, however, has denied that it is preparing to restart negotiations with Washington.

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Before the conflict, nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The latest U.S. military campaign, launched earlier this month alongside Israel, was aimed at ending Iran’s control over the strategic waterway.

Following attacks by Israel and the United States on Feb. 28, Iran effectively closed the strait to all vessels except its own. The waterway partially reopened under an agreement between Washington and Tehran last month, but that arrangement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on ships using a channel it had not authorised.

Iran has proposed charging service fees for ships using the waterway while jointly managing the strait with Oman, which controls the opposite shoreline. Washington argues that mandatory transit fees would violate international law and has called for a return to the pre-war system, under which ships passed freely without charges.

Reuters also reported that Oman’s proposal would not give Iran exclusive control over the strait and that any payments would remain voluntary.

The proposal mirrors the system used in the Strait of Malacca, where ships are invited to make voluntary contributions to support navigation, search-and-rescue operations and environmental protection by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

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The Western diplomat compared the proposal to voluntary carbon offset programmes offered to airline passengers, where travellers can choose to contribute towards reducing their environmental impact.

According to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held a video conference on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in the conflict, including ways to strengthen cooperation on ensuring the safety and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s unified military command also rejected Trump’s proposal to use frozen Iranian assets to compensate shipping companies, according to state media. It warned that any country or company accepting such payments would be barred from using the Strait of Hormuz.

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