WASHINGTON, June 29 — The first meeting of a joint committee to implement the Hormuz memorandum took place this week in Muscat, according to Iran’s deputy foreign minister, even as fresh military strikes and competing claims over de-mining rights underscored the fragility of the accord. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi announced on X that the meeting was held during a trip to the Omani capital. “During a trip to Muscat, the first meeting of the Joint Hormuz Committee was held,” he wrote.
The statement marks the first confirmed talks between Iran and Oman since the deal was struck, though the precise scope of the committee’s work remains unclear. The talks come against a backdrop of renewed hostilities.
Over the weekend, US Central Command said it had attacked 10 Iranian military targets in response to what it described as “continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping.” Iran said it retaliated with strikes against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Traffic through the strait slowed after a vessel was struck while transiting the waterway, with 29 commodity vessels affected, according to the source material.
The Hormuz memorandum is meant to address Iran’s exercise of control over the strategic strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed prior to the conflict. Iran and Oman border the waterway.
Under international law, neither nation can generally block passage or charge tolls, as the strait comprises both Omani and Iranian territorial waters. Iran warned Sunday that any attempt by ships to bypass its preferred route would “increase tensions” in the Middle East, insisting vessels transit a corridor near its own shores. Implementation of the memorandum is complicated by sharp disagreements over de-mining.
In a joint statement following a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Paris and Muscat said they would conduct joint de-mining operations. Gharibabadi pushed back, insisting that under the agreement only Iran is authorized to carry out de-mining efforts. “The situation is sensitive and complex.
We strongly advise France not to complicate it further with its provocations,” Gharibabadi wrote. The blockade of the strait remains a key sticking point in negotiations.
How the memorandum is to be implemented, particularly on the sensitive issue of who controls de-mining, is not yet settled. Watch for further statements from the Joint Hormuz Committee and for any movement on the de-mining dispute between Iran, Oman, and France, as well as the status of commercial shipping through the waterway.
