Iran and Oman hold talks on Hormuz shipping corridor talks

Iran and Oman are negotiating a temporary shipping corridor and mine clearance in the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, but have yet to agree on conditions for reopening the waterway as the Middle East war nears six months. The talks follow a collapsed US-Iran memorandum that tasked the two nations with defining the strait's future administration. Tehran conditions full reopening on US concessions, including lifting sanctions and ending the war, while Oman seeks to separate navigation from the wider conflict. Washington has threatened Oman over its intermediary role, though analysts say it needs Muscat's channel. Oman aims for a collective regional guarantee of navigation, involving other Gulf states, rather than a bilateral deal with Iran.