Iran Sets Conditions for Reopening Strait of Hormuz
Iran has set a number of preconditions for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, including compensation for war damages, complicating a potential deal to reopen the waterway vital to the global economy. Tehran has effectively blockaded the strait since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, planning to levy transit fees whilst attacking ships accused of attempting to avoid their chosen route.
The continued attacks in the strait—which was freely navigable before the war—caused the collapse of an April ceasefire. Since then, mediators have urged both sides to return to compliance with the terms of a June memorandum of understanding. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that discussions with Oman regarding traffic and management of the strait were ‘approaching the final stage’, but added that the reopening of Hormuz ‘depends on other conditions and compensation for violations’ of the June agreement.
Security chief Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr on Saturday outlined a list of demands for reopening the strait, including a halt to the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq. He also demanded the lifting of the US naval blockade against Iran, the removal of sanctions, the unfreezing of assets, and compensation for war damages, as reported by the Tasnim news agency. Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard stated that ‘the reopening of Hormuz has nothing to do with negotiations between Iran and Oman’, adding that the enemy was forced to accept Iran’s terms for opening the strait.
The statements come amid a significant decline in shipping traffic through Hormuz, where Iran is targeting ships accused of avoiding their chosen route through Iranian waters. The UAE Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned what it called ‘hostile Iranian attacks targeting an ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) tanker with missiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in no casualties’. Later on Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a vessel was struck by a projectile off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire—which was later extinguished—but no casualties. It was unclear if it was the same vessel.
On Friday, ADNOC issued a statement noting that since the start of the war, 15 of its vessels have been attacked in Hormuz, ‘including three ships this week alone’. The Omani Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned ‘repeated attacks on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz’, without naming Iran. It also stated that ongoing negotiations regarding navigational arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz were proceeding in a positive and constructive atmosphere, urging that no actions be taken to jeopardise that progress.
A previous agreement between Iran and the US—intended as a starting point for permanent settlement negotiations—stated that Iran and Oman would formulate future arrangements for the strait through discussions with other Gulf states and in accordance with applicable international law. International law generally prohibits the imposition of tolls in such waterways.