Iran rejects Omani proposal for regional management of Hormuz

Tehran has rejected Oman’s proposal for regional joint management of the Strait of Hormuz, a report said Wednesday, dashing hopes for a swift diplomatic breakthrough in the war that has disrupted Gulf trade for months.

Oman proposed a new regional deal ⁠aimed at resolving the conflict over the critical strait, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

However, Tehran ruled out Oman’s proposal for regional joint management of the strait, saying it had no chance of success, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are trying to pressure Oman to advance ⁠their “unrealistic plans” regarding the strategic strait, the official told Reuters. Iran insisted the entire inbound route through the strait and part of the outbound route must be under Iranian control, the official added.

A 50-50 joint control arrangement with Oman would not serve Iran’s interests, though Tehran considers Oman a valuable neighbor, the official said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday its forces struck three oil tankers in the strait and forced them to stop after they ignored warnings for taking an “unsafe and illegal route.”

The IRGC Navy said in a statement that it continued to maintain full control over the strategic waterway and warned that “unlawful U.S. military interference” and instructions to vessels in the region would not go unanswered.

Oil prices surge again

Oil prices rose over $3 a barrel on Wednesday as attacks intensified once again.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq on Wednesday, saying they were responsible for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, prompting Iran to warn that blaming it for such attacks ⁠was ⁠a “major miscalculation.”

The U.S.-Saudi strikes in eastern Iraq occurred just hours after the U.S. military said its air defenses had averted a surprise Iranian attack on U.S. troops in the region. The IRGC said on Wednesday it had fired several ballistic missiles at U.S. military installations in Jordan.

Jordan’s military said its air defenses intercepted and shot down five Iranian missiles targeting the kingdom on Wednesday.

Back-and-forth attacks in recent days have ended a brief pause in the fighting, after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly called off a two-week U.S. bombing campaign and Iran appeared to follow suit.

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that its air defenses destroyed several drones targeting oil facilities in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. Iran-backed groups launched the attacks from Iraqi territory, Saudi Defense Ministry spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said.

Later in the day, U.S. Central Command and Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said the ⁠two countries hit multiple sites across eastern Iraq that they said had been used by Iran to direct drone attacks.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said a number of its official headquarters in different parts of Iraq were attacked on Wednesday by what it described as U.S. and Saudi forces. The PMF said preliminary reports indicated several people were killed and others wounded, with damage to a number of its buildings and facilities.

Speaking to state TV in Iran, an Iranian defense official strongly denied any connection between projectiles fired from other countries toward Saudi targets.

The unnamed military official, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB, said attributing attacks on U.S. interests in the region to Iran was a “major miscalculation.”

Oman proposes joint management of Hormuz

In an effort to resolve the conflict over the ⁠Strait of Hormuz, Oman ‌had presented Iran ‌with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the waterway that would include collecting voluntary fees ⁠from ships.

Under the Omani ‌proposal, Iran would not exercise sole control and fees would be voluntary, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia’s Strait of Malacca, where ⁠Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations.

Iran ⁠effectively shut the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. A deal last month between the U.S. and Iran partially ⁠reopened the strait, with future talks planned to resolve larger issues including Iran’s nuclear program. But the agreement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on vessels using a shipping channel it does not recognize.

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