Iran and six Gulf countries will hold their first Minister-level meeting to resume the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the Iran war began, this is the first time senior officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states and Iran will gather in one place.
According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 11th, the foreign ministers of Iran and the six GCC member states are scheduled to meet on the 14th (local time) in Salalah, Oman. Oman, which has been mediating talks with Iran, arranged the meeting.
After the de facto collapse of a memorandum of understanding for an end to the war that the United States and Iran prepared in June last year, the United States shifted to reopening the Strait of Hormuz through military and economic pressure. Iran and Oman, meanwhile, continued negotiations on a temporary passage to resume vessel operations.
Late last month, the two countries announced they had reached a tentative agreement under which ships entering the Persian Gulf would use Iranian territorial waters, while those exiting would use Omani territorial waters.
GCC countries, whose crude export routes are blocked, appear to have agreed to direct talks with Iran after judging that U.S. pressure alone would not reopen the strait quickly.
All GCC members are oil producers and are taking an economic hit from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. If confrontation with Iran continues, not only crude exports but also their economic growth strategies, which have relied on attracting foreign capital and talent, could be disrupted.
A source told the FT, "The purpose of Iran and Oman is to bring the GCC into the Strait of Hormuz talks and, through that, to pressure the United States to lift its maritime blockade on Iran." The source added, "GCC countries want to secure ship passage while making clear that this is a temporary agreement."
Oman, which faces Iran across the Strait of Hormuz, has maintained a dialogue channel with Iran and mediated for the resumption of free passage. Iran, however, seeks to maintain control over the strait by requiring ships to obtain its passage authorization even if they do not pay an expense.
Iran maintains that even if a temporary passage deal is reached, the strait can be fully opened only if the United States lifts its maritime blockade and allows crude exports and access to frozen assets.
Accordingly, even if a temporary passage plan is agreed at the meeting on the 14th, some view that it will be difficult to lead to a substantive easing of tensions unless the United States changes its stance.
Mediators such as Qatar and Oman are moving to revive U.S.-Iran negotiations. But regional tensions are instead rising as Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are aligned with Iran, intensify their offensive to seize control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea.