Qatari Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visited Muscat yesterday for talks with Oman on initiating negotiations involving Iran, Iraq and Gulf Arab states on the Strait of Hormuz, a diplomat briefed on the talks told Reuters.
Separately, there are plans for regional reconciliation talks to be held in Riyadh between Iran and Gulf Arab states, he said. The discussions are separate from US-Iran peace talks and de-mining arrangements.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman and the Qatari Prime Minister discussed the course of the ongoing US-Iran negotiations being conducted through Pakistani-Qatari mediation, as well as the diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a settlement to the crisis, according to the Oman News Agency.
The Strait of Hormuz was closed by Iran after it came under fire from the US and Israel at the end of February. But Iran has lifted its blockade as part of an accord signed with the US last week which extended an ongoing ceasefire by 60 days and set in place a memorandum of understanding aimed at permanently ending the war. Under the 14-point MoU, Iran and Oman, which border Hormuz, must hold talks ‘to define the future administration and maritime services’ in the key waterway with other Gulf states.
The diplomat said Gulf countries would push for freedom of navigation through the strait and no imposition of fees for transit.
Earlier yesterday, Oman announced two temporary routes north and south of the existing shipping lane in the strait to facilitate the safe passage of vessels departing the region in co-ordination with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Under a phased plan developed by the IMO in co-ordination with Omani authorities, vessels will be grouped and contacted individually with instructions on when they may depart and which route they should follow.