In a fresh June 23 move distinct from Tehran’s earlier unilateral claim to ‘administer’ the waterway, Muscat and Tehran agreed a bilateral mechanism on Hormuz traffic, services and costs — and pledged to consult other Gulf coastal states.
Oman and Iran agreed on Tuesday to establish a joint working group between their two foreign ministries to negotiate the future administration of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first concrete bilateral mechanism on the strategic waterway since the US-Iran roadmap was struck in Switzerland. The agreement was announced in a joint statement issued by Oman’s Foreign Ministry on June 23.
The statement said the two sides agreed to “maintain their dialogue on this issue through a joint working group between the two foreign ministries” in order to reach agreement on the strait’s future administration, “the services to be provided there and the associated costs, in line with international standards,” according to the Omani Foreign Ministry text. The wording mirrors a clause of the Islamabad Understanding, under which Iran committed to hold dialogue with Oman on managing the strait.
Crucially, both governments stressed that “all arrangements related to the Strait of Hormuz must fully respect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the two Coastal States,” and agreed “to hold discussions with the littoral States in the region, and with any other relevant parties,” per the joint statement. That language is a notable shift from Tehran’s earlier unilateral framing of the strait as something to be administered by Iran alone, and brings other Gulf coastal states into the picture.
The accord followed talks in Muscat during a visit by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, Reuters reported via U.S. News. Al-Busaidi said, “Our emphasis was on upholding international law and ensuring the safe passage of ships,” according to Iran’s Press TV, which described the discussions as covering provisions of the memorandum of understanding signed between Tehran and Washington, particularly issues related to the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman, a long-standing back-channel between Washington and Tehran, also reaffirmed its support for the US-Iran Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and stressed the importance of dialogue to support its implementation. The Islamabad Understanding entered into force on June 18 after being signed electronically by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump, according to Middle East Monitor.
The Muscat agreement lands as transit through the strait remains contested. Iran re-declared the waterway closed over the weekend — a claim Washington disputes — even as tanker traffic slowly resumed following the US easing of its naval posture, per coverage of the ongoing crisis. Unlike the headline US-Iran disputes over IAEA inspections and frozen funds, the Hormuz working group is one of the few areas of concrete, agreed institutional follow-through to emerge from the post-ceasefire diplomacy — and one that, by design, draws in Oman and other Gulf coastal states rather than leaving the chokepoint subject to a single capital’s writ.
