Iran, Oman near deal on Strait of Hormuz passage with service fees

Iran and Oman, the two coastal states bordering the Strait of Hormuz, have narrowed their discussions to a concrete level on transit arrangements for the waterway, The New York Times reported Monday.

Citing two Iranian officials familiar with the matter, the Times said the two countries are closing in on an agreement under which ships entering the strait would follow a route through waters controlled by Iran, while vessels departing would take a path closer to Omani-controlled waters. The officials also said ships transiting the strait would be charged a service fee — justified by costs related to environmental impact, security and personnel deployment — with the revenue split equally between the two countries.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that the two countries had exchanged maps showing the routes ships would use to transit the strait.

Before the war, the Strait of Hormuz operated under an internationally recognized Traffic Separation Scheme, which divided the narrow waterway into northbound and southbound lanes to prevent collisions, with most of the designated routes running through Omani territorial waters.

Baghaei said, however, that Iran and Oman are discussing "a single bidirectional route rather than two or three separate lanes."

The United States has pressed for the strait to remain freely navigable as it was before the war, but Iran has insisted on maintaining sovereign control over the waterway.

Early in the war, Iran appeared focused on collecting tolls, but it later shifted its position toward demanding the authority to grant permission for ships to transit — effectively asserting control over passage. Given that the strait's closure has proven an effective source of leverage in both the war and negotiations, and that Iran has paid a heavy human and material price to seize control of the waterway, the likelihood of Tehran relinquishing that control remains very low.

President Donald Trump said Monday he was in discussions with Iran about fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz by Wednesday and warned he would not tolerate the imposition of transit fees. Still, there is room for him to accept a transit agreement given that Oman — the mediating party — is directly involved in the passage negotiations.

The transit fees Trump has strongly opposed could ultimately be imposed under a different name, such as a "service fee."