Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on a route map for ships in the Strait of Hormuz but are still working to finalise a joint announcement, the Iranian government said on Monday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said negotiations were continuing despite delays, which he blamed on the complexity of the talks and “destructive efforts” from some quarters. He said Iran and Oman intend to announce the deal as a package comprising the route map and a joint statement.
US President Donald Trump meanwhile warned Oman against interfering in his administration’s efforts involving Iran, telling Fox News: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb.”
Mr Trump also said that the US had a back-channel to speak to officials in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), but said he was in “no hurry” to reach a deal with Tehran.
On Sunday, Axios reported that the Trump administration had secretly turned to Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani to establish a back-channel with the IRGC during its stalled efforts to end the war. A source in Mr Barzani’s office confirmed to The National that he had served as a back-channel between the US and IRGC.
Mr Baghaei denied there had been back-channel talks, saying the claim was psychological warfare aimed at creating divisions within Iran’s decision-making bodies. Mr Trump also said on Monday that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remained his administration’s main goal in the war.
His comments came as a 60-day deadline that the US and Iran had set to reach a longer-term peace deal expired on Monday, with neither side giving ground on the big issues nor willing to extend the window for further negotiations. Both sides have accused the other of breaching the agreement.
“The number one goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape or form, a nuclear weapon,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The 14-point deal negotiated in Islamabad and signed on June 17 was intended as an interim framework for ending the war, opening a window for negotiations on a longer-term nuclear agreement. Iran on Monday denied that the deal imposed a binding 60-day deadline for talks.
“There is no such thing as a ‘60-day deadline’ in the text of the memorandum of understanding,” Mr Baghaei said. He said the United States had breached the agreement “grossly and extensively”, preventing talks from starting weeks after it was signed. “As a result, the discussion of the 60-day deadline has completely lost its relevance,” he said.
Both sides have accused each other of breaching the agreement. The US has carried out strikes against Iran since it was signed, while Iran has been accused of attacking tankers and obstructing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, shipping through the strait slowed over the weekend following attacks on tankers, according to shipping data, as US-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, while none were registered on Sunday, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler. Thirty-one vessels transited over the previous weekend.
Vessels entering the strait on Saturday included an empty, very large crude carrier with its automatic identification system switched off, and a very large, Indian-flagged gas carrier that used an Iranian-designated route, according to the data. A small tanker carrying Iranian fuel oil was also recorded as having exited the waterway.
Shipping appeared to approach a near standstill after the UAE said three vessels operated by Adnoc had been attacked while transiting the strait last week. Some vessels may have passed through without being detected because their transponders were switched off, but the latest figures are still far below the more than 130 ships a day that traversed the strait before the war.
