Iran and Oman have agreed on a framework to manage ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and jointly clear mines from the strategic waterway, a significant diplomatic step six months into the US-Iran war. The deal, announced by Oman’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, came just an hour after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that all mines had been removed from Hormuz’s international waters and warned that any vessel laying new ones would be “immediately and systematically destroyed.”
The proposed framework includes the establishment of a joint temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint mine-clearing project, Oman’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The announcement followed a meeting between Oman’s top diplomat Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran.
Trump Claims Zero Tolerance on New Mines
Trump said the US Navy had confirmed that “all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz.” He added that Iranian officials had been warned that any ship or boat placing new mines would be destroyed, and that US Space Force elements were “watching every square inch of the strait.”
It was at least the second time in a week Trump had made the claim. On August 18, he posted that Hormuz was “open and operating” and that “all water mines have been removed or detonated.” The repeated assertions underscore Washington’s effort to project control over a waterway that has been largely shut down since the war began in February.
Iran’s response has been starkly different. Al Jazeera reported Wednesday that Tehran insists Hormuz remains closed despite the Oman agreement, while the Persian Gulf Strait Authority has said the strait “will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.”
Tanker Struck Off Oman Coast
The diplomatic maneuvering came as an oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile off the coast of Oman in the early hours of Tuesday. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that the vessel was hit approximately 9 nautical miles northeast of the Omani coast at Ash-Shishan, just after midnight. There were no casualties, but the ship was disabled.
The attack occurred on a route that the US Navy has been quietly using to escort commercial tanker ships along Oman’s southern coast, keeping petroleum supplies flowing to the global economy while the main Hormuz channels remain contested. The incident raised fresh questions about whether the corridor is secure enough to resume normal shipping.
The US military began sweeping for mines in and around Hormuz in April, deploying destroyers and littoral combat ships equipped with autonomous mine-countermeasures systems. The naval effort has been paired with a broader campaign to keep at least partial shipping flowing through the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes daily.
Pakistan Mediates as Iran Sets Conditions
The Iran-Oman deal adds a new layer to an already complex diplomatic picture. Pakistan has been mediating between Washington and Tehran, with Pakistan’s powerful army chief Asim Munir meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran earlier this week. Iranian media reported that Pakistan would relay Tehran’s conditions for a return to a ceasefire deal with the US.
Iran’s economy minister Ali Madanizadeh predicted “another defeat” for the United States, saying the Islamic Republic had a “two-year plan” to counter Washington’s new sanctions. Those sanctions, which the US Treasury described as an “economic D-Day,” targeted nearly 60 Iran-linked entities in the latest round of punitive economic measures.
The US has repeatedly threatened military action against Oman over its mediation role. Trump warned last week that the US would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of American efforts to reopen the strait, a remarkable threat against a treaty ally. Oman has continued its mediation despite the pressure, positioning itself as the most viable broker for a Hormuz agreement.
The June Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between Trump, Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had envisioned some Iranian role in overseeing Hormuz shipping, but the agreement collapsed quickly when the IRGC attacked commercial vessels outside Tehran-approved routes. The new Iran-Oman framework attempts to address the same issues that derailed the earlier deal, but from a bilateral rather than trilateral structure.
With the war now in its sixth month, the competing claims about Hormuz’s status reflect a deeper impasse. Washington says the strait is open and demined. Tehran says it remains closed until its demands are met. And the attack on a tanker in a US-protected corridor suggests that neither side’s narrative tells the full story.
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