Ships pass through the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Muscat on Saturday. [AFP]
Ships pass through the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Muscat on Saturday. [AFP]

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Tehran and Muscat have made meaningful progress in consultations over transit through the Strait of Hormuz, amid ongoing armed conflict between the two countries over control of the waterway.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB cited Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as saying that Iran and Oman held multiple rounds of deputy foreign minister-level talks in Tehran on Friday and Saturday.

Baghaei said the two sides held wide-ranging discussions on common principles and operational mechanisms to manage safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, on the premise that each country's sovereign rights would be respected.

"The talks were highly productive and meaningful progress was made," he said, adding that technical and political consultations between the two countries would continue. However, the situation for vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz has not yet changed, Baghaei added.

Iran has claimed exclusive control over the Strait of Hormuz, citing a ceasefire MOU it signed with the United States, and has attacked vessels that attempted to transit the strait outside routes it designated.

The United States has continued airstrikes against Iran in response to those attacks. As the scope of the strikes has expanded, concerns have grown over a resumption of full-scale war.


ehkim@heraldcorp.com