Tehran and Muscat delay talks, citing regional consensus need

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman [File: Reuters]

Negotiations in Oman between Iran and Gulf Arab states have been postponed at the request of some regional countries, Iranian media have reported.

The postponement came hours after an attack on an Iranian commercial cargo vessel killed one person in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Iran’s Fars news agency, quoting the director general of the Iranian foreign ministry’s Gulf affairs office, said on Sunday the postponement “was made at the request of some countries in the region and was a joint decision by Tehran and Muscat”.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X that the meeting, scheduled for Monday, had been postponed “in the interests of consensus”.

“We remain committed to fostering dialogue that supports stability and lasting cooperation in our region,” Albusaidi said.

Oman has emerged as a key mediator in the war, building on its decades-long role as a trusted interlocutor with Tehran. The country is also directly affected by the dispute over navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, whose southern shore lies in Omani territory.

In July, Muscat proposed a joint regional mechanism that would split control of the strait 50-50. The proposal also suggested “voluntary fees” from shipping vessels that would go to both countries.

The system is similar to an agreement governing the Strait of Malacca , which asks ships transiting the strait to voluntarily contribute to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations. Iran rejected the idea of a voluntary fee, insisting instead that payments should be compulsory for vessels transiting the chokepoint.

Tehran has also pushed for vessels to use a route closer to the Iranian coast and has targeted ships travelling closer to the strait’s southern shore. The talks have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which flowed largely unimpeded before Israel and the United States launched their war on Iran on February 28, has become one of the central issues in the conflict. Before the war, about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies were shipped from Gulf producers via this route.

US President Donald Trump is pushing to restore shipping through the waterway to pre-war levels to bring down energy prices ahead of November’s midterm elections. But Tehran has shown no sign of giving up what it regards as a key source of strategic leverage.

Before Albusaidi’s announcement, Iranian state media reported that an attack off Qeshm Island, about 22km (14 miles) from the port city of Bandar Abbas, had killed one person and wounded four others. The governor of Qeshm reportedly blamed the attack on a “terrorist enemy”.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) monitor separately said a vessel had been hit by a projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, although it was not immediately clear whether it was referring to the same incident reported by Iran. UKMTO said a severe fire had broken out and local authorities were evacuating those on board.

There was no immediate comment from the US military, which has struck Iranian-flagged vessels during its blockade of Iranian ports and is facing a renewed threat from Iranian ballistic missiles targeting its warships.

Hours before the attack, Iran’s government remained defiant.

“Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post.

Trump offered a sharply different assessment on Sunday, saying Iran “wants to make a deal so bad” that “they’re calling constantly”. He spoke at his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, where he was attending a tournament.

Later, when asked by a reporter whether the US had struck the Iranian cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Sunday, Trump said: “I don’t want to say,” before boarding Air Force One for Washington.

从阿曼穆桑达姆港看到的霍尔木兹海峡附近的船只 [图片来源：路透社]

据伊朗媒体报道，应一些地区国家的要求，伊朗与海湾阿拉伯国家在阿曼举行的谈判已被推迟。

在霍尔木兹海峡发生针对一艘伊朗商船的袭击事件，造成一人死亡后数小时，会议被推迟。

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伊朗法尔斯通讯社周日援引伊朗外交部海湾事务办公室主任的话称，此次推迟“是应该地区一些国家的要求，也是德黑兰和马斯喀特共同做出的决定”。

阿曼外交部长巴德尔·阿布赛迪在X电视台表示，原定于周一举行的会议“为了达成共识”而被推迟。

“我们仍然致力于促进对话，以支持我们地区的稳定和持久合作，”阿尔布赛迪说。

阿曼已成为这场战争的关键调解人，这得益于其数十年来作为德黑兰可信赖的对话伙伴的角色。此外，霍尔木兹海峡的航行权争端也直接影响到阿曼，因为该海峡南岸位于阿曼领土之内。

今年7月，马斯喀特提出了一项联合区域机制，将海峡的控制权五五分成。该提议还建议向航运船只收取“自愿费用”，这些费用将归两国所有。

该制度类似于管理马六甲海峡的协议，该协议要求过境船舶自愿缴纳费用，用于资助航行、环境保护和搜救行动。伊朗拒绝了自愿缴费的提议，坚持认为过境该咽喉要道的船舶必须缴费。

德黑兰方面还敦促船只使用更靠近伊朗海岸的航线，并对靠近海峡南岸航行的船只进行拦截。迄今为止，谈判尚未取得突破性进展。

在以色列和美国于2月28日对伊朗发动战争之前，霍尔木兹海峡的交通基本畅通无阻，如今却成为这场冲突的核心问题之一。战前，全球约五分之一的石油和液化天然气（LNG）供应都是通过这条航线从海湾产油国运往伊朗的。

美国总统特朗普正力推将德黑兰航道的航运量恢复到战前水平，以期在11月中期选举前降低能源价格。但德黑兰方面丝毫没有放弃这一其视为关键战略筹码的迹象。

在阿尔布赛迪宣布消息之前，伊朗国家媒体报道称，距离港口城市阿巴斯港约22公里（14英里）的格什姆岛附近海域发生袭击事件，造成一人死亡，四人受伤。据报道，格什姆岛省长将此次袭击归咎于“恐怖分子敌人”。

英国海事贸易行动监测机构（UKMTO）另行发布消息称，一艘船只在穿越霍尔木兹海峡时遭到炮弹袭击，但目前尚不清楚这是否与伊朗报告的事件相同。UKMTO表示，船上发生严重火灾，当地政府正在疏散船上人员。

美国军方尚未对此发表评论。此前，美国军方在封锁伊朗港口期间曾袭击悬挂伊朗国旗的船只，目前正面临伊朗弹道导弹袭击其军舰的新威胁。

袭击发生前数小时，伊朗政府仍然态度强硬。

“我们的人民不会被欺凌屈服。伊朗不会投降，”总统马苏德·佩泽什基安在社交媒体上发帖说。

特朗普周日给出了截然不同的评估，称伊朗“非常渴望达成协议”，以至于“他们一直在打电话”。他是在爱尔兰杜恩贝格的自家高尔夫球场发表这番讲话的，当时他正在那里参加一场锦标赛。

后来，当记者问及美国是否在周日早些时候袭击了霍尔木兹海峡的伊朗货船时，特朗普说：“我不想说”，然后登上空军一号前往华盛顿。