Oman and Iran held the first meeting of their Joint Committee on the Strait of Hormuz in Muscat on Monday to exchange views on the future management of the strategic waterway and related maritime issues, Oman's Foreign Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said the Omani delegation was led by Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Zaher Al-Hinai, ambassador-at-large at the foreign ministry, while the Iranian side was led by Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.
The two sides discussed ways to strengthen coordination on matters concerning the Strait of Hormuz in line with the mutual interests and sovereignty of both countries, while reaffirming their commitment to international law, the statement said.
They also explored frameworks for cooperating on navigation and maritime services, building on their status as the two littoral states bordering the strait and on existing bilateral and international understandings, it added.
On the same day, Oman again voiced its opposition to charging transit fees on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
In an interview, Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi said that Oman does not support imposing fees on ships passing through the strait, while leaving the door open to discussions on maritime service mechanisms.
Oman is willing to discuss cooperative arrangements around navigational safety, maritime accident response, and marine pollution prevention where lessons could be drawn from other major shipping corridors, Albusaidi said.
Any such arrangements, he stressed, would be worked out in consultation with the nations and shipping companies that rely on the waterway, with the goal of upgrading maritime services and safeguarding safe passage, not layering new costs onto global trade.
On June 24, Oman and Iran issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with applicable international law.
The two countries also agreed to continue discussions through a joint working group between their foreign ministries to reach an understanding on the future management of navigation and related maritime services in the strait.
Oman, Iran hold joint meeting on future management of Hormuz Strait
