Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Saturday for talks on the Strait of Hormuz, as a fragile regional ceasefire hangs in the balance.
The talks in Muscat come amid a cautious calm in the region, days after renewed fighting between Iran and the US pushed an interim agreement aimed at ending the war to the brink of collapse.
Mr Araghchi will meet with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi to discuss "establishing appropriate mechanisms for the safe transit of ships" through the shared waters, said Iranian state media. The visit follows prior consultations between the neighbouring countries on navigation through the strategic waterway, held in line with an interim agreement between Iran and the US, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency added.
Attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last week, blamed on Tehran, had triggered US strikes and sanctions in response, with both sides trading accusations of violating the agreement.
'A mistake'
US media reports claimed Iranian officials privately told Trump advisers that they "made a mistake" in shooting at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz last week and that the attacks stemmed from an "errant" sect of hardliners who are trying to undermine negotiations.
Tehran also said it wanted to resume talks as agreed to by both sides under a framework deal signed last month, US officials reportedly told CBS News.
Washington is now expecting Iran to issue a statement acknowledging the Strait of Hormuz is open, US officials said.
If Iran does not issue the statement and adhere to it, “we’re not going to have a good outcome for them", they told reporters.
President Donald Trump on Friday said he directed his administration to continue talks with Iran but that he still considered the ceasefire to be over. He first declared the end of the truce on Wednesday, a day after the US resumed deadly strikes on Iran in response to attacks on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US also issued on Friday a fresh wave of Iran-related sanctions targeting a key financier for Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and 13 other individuals and entities, following Tehran's resumed attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the Treasury Department said.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the sanctions aim to cut off the Iranian regime's "financial lifelines".
Mr Araghchi on Saturday said the sanctions were a violation of their framework agreement.
"Iran has so far kept its word, unlike the so-called US Treasury Secretary who is violating Para 9 of the MoU," wrote Mr Araghchi on X on Saturday. "That violation follows other violations and missteps by the United States," he added.
Paragraph 9 of the agreement stipulates that the US is not to impose new sanctions or deploy additional forces to the region.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has also accused Washington of violating the agreement by launching attacks on Iran, revoking its oil sales licence and imposing new sanctions.
“If the other side violates its commitments, which it has, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take the necessary action, and it has done so. This approach will continue in the future,” he said in a televised interview.
Mr Baghaei also denied that Tehran had requested negotiations with the US, but said it accepted a visit by mediators to the country.
Qatari negotiators were in Iran on Friday for talks to de-escalate tensions and create conditions for broader negotiations to continue, Reuters reported. A source told the news agency that the talks were being conducted in co-ordination with the US.
