Hormuz: Iran and Oman announce joint temporary corridor and mine clearance

On August 26 Reuters reports that Iran has stated it has resumed talks with Oman on managing the Strait of Hormuz. The day before, Tuesday August 25, the two governments said they had discussed a “joint temporary navigation corridor” in the Strait and had agreed to clear it of mines. The announcement follows the meeting held in Tehran on that same August 25 between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi.

This is the first joint announcement on the passage after weeks in which the newspaper has followed a sequence made up mostly of unilateral measures: on August 25 we wrote about threats of fines and confiscations against transiting vessels, and in the afternoon of that same day about the channel opened by the United Nations on blocked fertilizers. A previous attempt at an agreement on routes was reported on August 18.

Today’s development has two distinct elements. The first is the corridor: a temporary passage jointly managed by the two countries, whose width, duration and monitoring arrangements are not specified in the statements. The second is mine clearance, which the two governments declare has been agreed: a technical operation that, unlike a political announcement, produces verifiable effects only over time and with certification by those carrying it out. Neither ministry has disclosed a starting date.

On August 26 CGTN in Italian reports statements by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi according to which the new agreement with Oman concerns only commercial vessels. It should be noted that this clarification, at this stage, comes from Iranian sources relayed by a Chinese broadcaster: it is an attributed partisan position, not independently verified information. On the American side, Trump has reiterated that all mines in the Strait would be removed.

The operational picture, meanwhile, has not changed in the same direction as the statements. According to the British Maritime Trade Operations, also on August 25 a tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile about nine nautical miles northeast of Ash Shishah, Oman, and was left unable to navigate. The incident occurred during the same hours as the Tehran meeting and in waters close to the country that is supposed to co-manage the corridor. The origin of the shot has not been attributed.

Three questions remain open that the available documents do not resolve. Who guarantees the corridor, if transit continues to be hit by unattributed fire. By what means and in how much time will clearance take place, given that neither party has indicated a timeline. And how a passage limited to commercial vessels, according to the Iranian account, is reconciled with the American position on complete mine removal.

For now the only element the two capitals declare jointly is the corridor formula. The number of actual transits that will result from it is the figure by which the agreement will be measured, and neither the August 25 nor the August 26 statements indicate it.

Sources: Internazionale (Reuters origin); CGTN Italian (Chinese state broadcaster, relaying Iranian sources); CNN.