Iran and Oman have reportedly agreed to move forward with a proposal to introduce voluntary fees for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n
Oman, a US ally which had previously opposed an Iranian-backed toll scheme for the strategic waterway, has presented a formal proposal to the United States and other partners outlining a framework under which shipping companies would pay service charges to use the strait, the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n
However, accounts differ on the nature of the proposed payments. While some regional diplomats told the Times the fees would be voluntary, Iranian officials have maintained that any payments would be compulsory.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the development comes a day after Oman\u2019s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi expressed support for a joint initiative with Iran to introduce \u201cmaritime service fees\u201d in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media outlet Press TV.<\/p>\n
Al-Busaidi said Muscat continues to oppose a direct toll system for the key oil transit chokepoint but argued that charges are necessary to help ensure safe navigation in the waterway.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome services may include enhancing navigational safety, protecting waters from pollution, and increasing preparedness to deal with accidents or emergencies,\u201d he said, outlining the proposed scope of services that could be funded through the fees.<\/p>\n
The remarks align with a joint statement issued by Tehran and Muscat last week, in which both governments did not rule out the introduction of charges in the strait, despite opposition from the Trump administration, which has insisted that the waterway remain toll-free.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear whether the United States will accept Oman\u2019s proposal for voluntary service fees, after President Trump repeatedly described any toll system in the Strait of Hormuz as \u201cunacceptable\u201d and warned that Oman must \u201cbehave just like everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran and Oman have reportedly agreed to move forward with a proposal to introduce voluntary fees for vessels…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[28],"tags":[102,196,181,101,2435],"class_list":["post-187599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-strait-of-hormuz","tag-hormuz","tag-iran-war","tag-oman","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-trends"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116850614859037151","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}