Iran today said it has reached an agreement with Oman on a plan to manage the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz and the two sides are now working to finalize details for a joint statement. Talking to reporters in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route.
Fully reopening the waterway to commercial shipping has been a key demand of the United States, but it remains unclear whether the deal will meet Washington’s criteria. The announcement came as the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between the US and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were two months ago.
Iran effectively closed the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war, after Israel and the US attacked the country on 28th of February.
Mideast negotiator Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was holding meetings with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the day after he had talks with Palestinian armed group Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on disarmament. The meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu come after the Israeli leader rejected a 15-point, US-backed road map to move the truce deal forward in Gaza. Hamas said it has agreed to the road map, which includes disarmament, and the group is urging mediators and the US-created Board of Peace to compel Israel to sign on as well.
But Israel, which under the road map must withdraw from Gaza, said Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal will occur. Israeli troops occupy about 60 per cent of the strip and Prime Minister Netanyahu has previously threatened to advance further.
