US issues repeated warnings to Oman over its contacts with Iran

Ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman [Reuters]
Ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman [Reuters]

Oman is resisting US pressure to sever its ties with Iran, The Guardian reported Wednesday.

The Donald Trump administration has been stepping up pressure on Oman, questioning the neutrality of a country that has served as a mediator between Washington and Tehran for decades. Oman has long maintained friendly relations with both sides, making it one of the region's most prominent go-betweens.

According to The Guardian, the Omani government has told US officials that its contacts with Iran are aimed at establishing a framework for managing the Strait of Hormuz in compliance with international law. Oman has also conveyed that any such framework would be implemented only after consultation with the International Maritime Organization, a UN body.

Oman and Iran face each other across the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

Oman has played a mediating role in multiple rounds of nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran — including last year and this year — as well as in the 2015 nuclear deal. Despite that track record, Trump administration officials have repeatedly warned Oman not to take Iran's side.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 2, singled out Oman, saying that "no country on earth" supports what Iran is doing in the strait — "except Iran, and maybe Oman, which has been flirting with it."

Earlier, on May 27, President Donald Trump threatened to "blow up" Oman if it cooperated with Iran's plan to collect transit fees from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. That same day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Oman could face US sanctions if it helped impose such tolls.

On May 29, the Treasury Department said US citizens are prohibited from receiving services from the Iranian government — including "services related to safe passage guarantees" — regardless of whether they pay any transit fee.

Oman has told US officials it opposes the collection of transit fees and will uphold the principle of freedom of navigation.

Iran has said it is prepared to guarantee that shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz returns to pre-war levels within one month if a truce extension agreement — including normalization of the strait — is reached with the United States. At the same time, Iran has established an entity called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority and is requiring ships transiting the strait to obtain passage permits through it.

To make the plan more compatible with international law and easier for Oman to accept, Iran has proposed charging non-discriminatory fees to vessels transiting the strait. The United States, however, has said it cannot accept such an arrangement.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told the UN Security Council on April 27 that no country has a legal basis to "introduce charges, tolls, fees or any discriminatory conditions" on international straits.

However, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea allows coastal states to regulate passage through their territorial waters on grounds of safety, environmental protection and maritime order, and to levy fees for specific services actually rendered, provided they do so in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

Meanwhile, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority said roughly 300 shipping companies have applied for transit permits so far. The main destinations for outbound vessels were Asian countries including China and India, while the United Arab Emirates was the primary destination for inbound ships.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com