TEHRAN — Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tuesday that Iran and Oman have agreed on a temporary seven-mile-wide shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, the first concrete opening of the waterway since Tehran restricted transit in early March. President Trump, in a Truth Social post the same day, said the U.S. Navy had removed or detonated all mines in the strait and warned Iran against placing new ones.
The announcement, coming a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled sweeping U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil-evasion network, is the first tangible product of a Tehran-Muscat channel that had gone months without a deal. About 20 percent of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas moved through the strait before the war, which began Feb. 28.
The route
Under the framework described by Iranian and Omani officials, ships will enter the Gulf through Iranian waters and exit through Omani territorial waters, passing through Iranian waters on both legs. The southern lane that Washington had been recommending to shipping firms, closer to the Omani coast, would be "closed," Gharibabadi told state television, adding that "no military vessels will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and only commercial vessels will be allowed to pass through it." He called the arrangement "a temporary route" and said the two governments would negotiate a permanent framework within 60 days.
The Omani view
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who met Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Tuesday, said he hoped for "practical arrangements" to restore safe navigation and that "future management of the strait and a permanent solution will follow in due course." An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson said the two sides had spent roughly a month negotiating water-sharing and revenue-distribution terms, Al Jazeera reported.
Trump on mines
Trump's Truth Social post said, "Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed." Iran did not comment on the mine-clearance claim. The BBC reported that Tuesday's Tehran meeting also covered a joint mine-clearing operation involving Pakistan.
Key specifics remain undisclosed, Al Jazeera reported, including precise coordinates, an operational start date and which vessel flags might face restrictions. The United States has not formally responded to the corridor announcement, and Trump last week publicly threatened Oman with military action "if it gets in the way" of Washington's own talks with Iran. Gharibabadi conditioned full reopening on U.S. compliance with a June memorandum, warning, "If Iran's requests are not granted, the Strait will be closed."
Iran and Oman said a permanent replacement plan is due within 60 days. Brent crude traded near $66 a barrel, and roughly 130 tankers passed through the strait each day, before the war.