Iran to Meet Gulf States Over Strait of Hormuz

Iran is expected to meet Gulf states and Iraq in Oman on Monday for talks on the future of the Strait of Hormuz, as efforts continue to address the disruption of shipping through the strategic waterway.

Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting would “promote better understanding among the countries of the region and help strengthen shared regional security”.

Iraq and other Gulf coastal nations are expected to participate in the discussions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said: “Iran remains committed to ensuring the security of navigation in the strait”.

Iran and Oman have held weeks of negotiations over the management of the waterway, including a temporary shipping route and efforts to clear mines.

The talks come as the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily disrupted following the outbreak of war between Iran, the United States and Israel in February. The waterway normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said Iran was giving the Hormuz talks a “wider political spectrum” by inviting other regional countries.

“For some time we heard Iranian officials say that the regional issues should be solved by the regional actors, especially when it came to Hormuz,” she said.

“So we are hearing from the Foreign Ministry that foreign ministers from the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries and Iraq will be attending this meeting on Monday and the meeting will be held in Oman.”

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Koseoglu said the latest meeting appeared to represent a second phase of discussions between Iran and Oman.

“Basically it looks like they came to the second phase because we heard Iranian officials saying earlier this week they agreed on the main script on the temporary shipping lane and this would be announced soon,” she added.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country was facing “unprecedented complexity” amid the conflict and international pressure.

“Iran has been subjected to heavy sanctions in recent years; this pressure has reached a critical and dangerous stage in recent months following the military aggression by the United States and Israel,” he said.

“When a country is subjected to political and military pressure on its trade, energy, infrastructure and financial system, the repercussions extend beyond its borders,” Pezeshkian added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, praised the US blockade and congratulated President Donald Trump on “the economic pressure brought to bear against the world’s greatest source of instability”.

“The people of Israel stand with the people of the United States and with President Trump in confronting the forces of terror. In the year ahead, we will continue to make the world safer for all,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

Trump also reiterated his opposition to Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

“We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamist Republic of Iran, will never, ever have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.