Iran and Oman have agreed on plans for a temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz as Tehran faces mounting US economic pressure and diplomatic efforts to resolve the wider conflict remain stalled.
The two neighbours have held intermittent talks for weeks over managing traffic through the strategic waterway, where most shipping has remained shut since the war began in February.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the proposed corridor would be seven miles wide, with its entry and part of its exit passing through Iranian territorial waters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi discussed the corridor in Tehran on Tuesday alongside a project to clear mines from the strait.
A joint statement said technical talks would continue toward a longer-term arrangement covering information sharing and navigational and security services.
Gharibabadi said Iran would not consider the strait reopened despite the temporary agreement, maintaining that Washington must fulfil commitments under a June interim agreement, including sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
He also rejected US President Donald Trump’s assertion that all mines in the strait had been cleared.
Passage through the waterway remains dangerous, with an oil tanker disabled on Tuesday by an unidentified projectile near Oman’s Ash Shishah, close to the strait’s entrance.
The corridor talks come as Washington intensifies economic pressure on Tehran while assessing a reduced near-term risk of renewed escalation.
The United States has threatened penalties against countries continuing to conduct business with Iran, although it has not immediately imposed the measures.
Iran has denounced the sanctions effort and urged other countries to resist US pressure.
At the same time, Washington is beginning to return personnel to some Middle Eastern diplomatic missions that were evacuated or downsized during heightened tensions.
Active hostilities between Iran and the United States have largely subsided, but broader peace efforts remain deadlocked and shipping through Hormuz continues to face significant risks.
The developments leave the temporary Iran-Oman corridor as a potential mechanism for managing maritime traffic without resolving the wider political impasse.