Oman caught between US and Iran after Tehran’s claims of joint strait of Hormuz plan | Oman

Oman was caught in the geopolitical crossfire after Iran said it was coordinating with the Gulf nation on the future management of the Strait of Hormuz, including Tehran’s plans to impose fees on commercial shipping.

Oman’s Musandam region lies south of the disputed waterway, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil traffic but has been blockaded for 10 weeks since the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.

The USA has repeatedly stated that there cannot be a permanent solution to the blockade, which involves paying a price to Iran, and claims that Oman has a similar opinion.

Speaking in India on Friday, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described the Strait of Hormuz as merely an Oman-Iran waterway. “The Bosphorus is located in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman,” he said. “There are no international waters in between.”

Araghchi added that Iran is coordinating with Oman on the future management of the strait. Oman has so far remained silent on Iran’s plans to charge a fee and demand detailed information on the nationality of all ships passing through the waterway.

Western diplomats say Iran’s proposals for future permanent management of the strait are unlawful because they would impose fees on commercial shipping and would likely give Iran the arbitrary right to choose which ships are allowed to pass, depending on the shipowner’s nationality.

The requirement for every ship to open a rial account to pay for services would also likely run afoul of UN sanctions banning sending money to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

A rival plan based on freedom of navigation, prepared by France and Britain, was also presented to Oman and received the support of most Gulf countries.

British officials, including Lord Llewellyn, political director of the Foreign Office, and Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, were in Muscat recently.

The legal right of coastal states to impose tolls is at the center of the impasse over how to reopen the strait and whether Iran’s proposed move by restricting freedom of navigation is illegal and sets a precedent for other similar waterways.

Iran became a signatory of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in 1982, immediately after the 1979 revolution, but never ratified the agreement.

This means that, from Iran’s perspective, the agreement is not bound by transit rules that promote freedom of navigation, but by customary international law, including a more restrictive right of innocent passage.

Even if Iran adheres to Unclos, it argues that the enhanced right of transit for nations’ ships is conditional and passage may be specifically restricted in the event of any threat or use of force to the “sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of coastal states.”

Tehran said the southern shore of the strait, which includes the United Arab Emirates at the beginning of the conflict, was used by the United States to arm American bases to attack Iran.

Iran hopes that the Persian Gulf Strait Administration (PGSA), a government agency it established on May 5, will become a profitable, revenue-generating channel.

The gray area is whether Iran can only charge fees for providing services to ships, or whether it will actually be mandatory to use those services, thus turning the service fee into a fee.

PGSA said ships must now register with its office via email to receive route information and permission to cross the strait.

Payment will need to be made in Iran’s national currency. The fee is set at roughly one dollar per barrel.

At his summit in Beijing, Donald Trump claimed that China, which imports almost 45 percent of Iran’s oil production through the strait, had agreed with the United States that there would be no transit fees and restrictions. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said China does not support tolls.

China’s foreign ministry said it just wanted the blockades to end and that the reason for the blockade was the US-Israeli war against Iran.

However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Thursday that a large group of Chinese oil tankers were passed through the strait by Tehran after talks with the Chinese ambassador to Iran and that these ships agreed to submit to the Iranian regime. The statement did not reveal whether a fee was paid by China.

When the US blockaded Iranian ports as a precaution against Iran effectively closing the strait, Trump said: “Anyone who pays illegal tolls will not have safe passage on the high seas.”

This meant that the US navy might feel it had the right to block Chinese oil tankers if they made Iran pay the price. However, it will be difficult to obtain evidence as to whether a toll or fee was paid at the relevant time.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said all its actions came within the framework of defensive measures to protect its sovereignty, civilians and vital infrastructure, according to a statement from its foreign ministry.

The statement on Saturday came after the Wall Street Journal published a report on Monday saying the UAE had conducted military operations against Iran in early April. This news is likely to make the UAE an even clearer target for Iran if the ceasefire is abandoned and the US and Iran restart the conflict.

The UAE ministry’s statement made no explicit reference to the reported attacks on Iran.