Iran and Oman agree on temporary Hormuz shipping corridor, but full reopening hinges on Washington

Iran and Oman have finalised arrangements for a temporary shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi announced on state television on Tuesday. Despite the breakthrough, he cautioned that the strategic waterway will not fully reopen until the United States honours commitments made under an interim peace accord signed in June that has since expired.

The announcement lands more than six months into a bruising confrontation between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the other. Fighting broke out on February 28 with air strikes against Tehran, and the ensuing conflict has all but paralysed traffic through the strait — the conduit for roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments from Gulf producers in peacetime — plunging energy markets into turmoil.

The narrow passage has become the central obstacle between Tehran and Washington, stalling hopes for a durable settlement. Because the channel runs through the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman, Tehran has insisted — particularly since American bombing resumed in July, prompting it to refuse further direct talks with Washington — that it will discuss the waterway's future solely with Muscat.

Before the war, approximately 130 vessels crossed the strait each day, and Brent crude traded near $66 a barrel. That changed after strikes hit Tehran while Iranian and American officials were still negotiating in Oman. Iran sealed the passage in early March, permitting only ships it deemed friendly to sail, and in April the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) published a route map steering permitted traffic much closer to Iran's coast than usual while declaring a large swath of Omani waters off-limits.

Washington has alleged that Iran laid mines in the strait. Tehran never confirmed the charge but advised operators that sticking to its designated course would lower the odds of hitting one. The United States later enforced a naval blockade of Iranian ports in and around the strait in an effort to squeeze the country by cutting off its fuel exports.

The fighting unleashed worldwide energy shortages, with Asia hit hardest owing to its heavy dependence on Gulf cargoes. Brent surged past $100 a barrel on multiple occasions — most recently on July 23 — after climbing to nearly $120 at the height of the crisis in March.

A memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 produced a ceasefire lasting up to 60 days to create space for peace negotiations. Under its terms, Iran pledged to keep the strait open to all traffic free of charge. Yet vague wording left unresolved which courses vessels should follow, fracturing traffic between a northern lane approved by Iran and a southern corridor endorsed by Oman and backed by Washington — the latter used so far by commercial carriers sailing under American naval protection. Broader diplomacy has since stalled, leaving every transit a high-stakes gamble.

Underscoring those dangers, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Tuesday that an oil tanker was disabled by an unidentified projectile near Oman's Ash Shishah, close to the strait's entrance.

Detailing the newly agreed arrangement, Gharibabadi said the corridor's entry point lies inside Iranian territorial waters, with part of the exit path likewise passing through waters under Iranian sovereignty. The transit passage will measure seven miles, or about 11.3 kilometres, across.

In separate remarks, an IRGC spokesperson revealed that negotiations with Oman had begun roughly a month ago and yielded results accepted by both sides, including agreements on each country's share of the strait's waters and on how Iran and Oman will divide revenues.

Key details nonetheless remain unclear, among them the precise coordinates of the route, when ships can begin traversing it safely, how revenues would actually be generated, and whether certain vessels or flags will be barred from using the corridor.

For now, Tehran insists the waterway itself remains shut. Gharibabadi stressed that what was agreed with Oman is only a provisional route and that Iran does not consider the strait open. Iranian army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia added that vessels making use of the passage would be subject to Iranian surveillance.