Iran rules out joint management of Hormuz

Iran has ruled out Oman's proposal for regional joint management of the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday, hitting hopes of a swift diplomatic breakthrough in the war.

The plan had no chance of success, the official told Reuters. Iran and Oman must manage the Strait of Hormuz between them, based on their respective areas of control, without the involvement of other powers, the official added.

He spoke a day after sources said Gulf states had backed the Omani plan, which suggested voluntary fees could be collected for using the strategic waterway in a bid to end disruption to trade caused by the conflict.

The official, who said the United States and Saudi Arabia were trying to press Oman into accepting what he called unrealistic plans, said the Strait's entire inbound route and part of the outbound route would have to be under Iranian control.

He said Iran respected Oman, which it considered a valuable neighbour and mediator, but that a 50/50 arrangement under which the two countries shared equal control would not serve Iran's interests.

Oman should oversee the section of the Strait corresponding to its control, he said, adding that southern routes through the Strait, which pass through Omani territorial waters, could be dangerous for shipping.

Control of the Strait, the narrow waterway between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean that is the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods, has been a main sticking point in efforts to resolve the U.S.-Iran war.

It has been largely blocked since the start of the war.

On Tuesday, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters that Oman had proposed placing the Strait under regional management with voluntary fees to help pay for managing navigation, environmental protection, search and rescue and other services.

The plan is based on similar arrangements for the Strait of Malacca linking the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore together ask for voluntary contributions from shippers to pay for services.

Before the war, shipping passed freely through the Strait, which is in the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman but which is generally regarded as an international waterway.

But as the war has gone on, Iran has asserted what it calls a sovereign right to manage the Strait and to impose fees on shipping, alongside Oman.

-Writing by Elwely Elwelly and James Mackenzie; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Andrew Heavens/Reuters