Oman has told European officials there’s no way of going back to the pre-war status quo with the Strait of Hormuz and transiting ships may have to be charged some fees, according to people familiar with the matter.
While Omani officials said they will always abide by international maritime law, they added there could be fees for services related to de-polluting the strait or helping ships navigate it, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private matters. It’s unclear if Oman said all these fees would be obligatory.
Oman is analyzing systems used for chokepoints across the globe, including the Malacca strait in Asia, said the people, an area where there are no mandatory shipping charges.
The US, Europe and Oman’s Gulf Arab neighbors are increasingly concerned the sultanate will set up a tolling or fee system with Iran for the Strait of Hormuz.
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Oman’s leader, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, in Paris on Monday, as world powers step up efforts to ensure free passage through the strait continues.
The two leaders will “address the security of maritime routes, which depends on free and unconditional passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to Macron’s office.
Oman’s foreign ministry and its embassy in France did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday, the start of the country’s weekend.
A senior US official, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations, said that Iran had informed the Trump administration it is not seeking or receiving tolls, insurance costs or charges of any kind on ships transiting the strait and reiterated that the US president has stated Iran cannot toll the waterway.
Oman and Iran border the narrow waterway, one of the world’s most important for oil and liquefied natural gas cargoes.
Iran shut the strait by attacking and threatening ships from late February, when the US and Israel starting bombing the Islamic Republic. Western governments have said it probably mined parts of the area too.
With the US and Iran now in peace talks, Tehran is insisting it will jointly manage traffic with Oman.
Any fees for vessels could cost commodity traders and shippers tens of billions of dollars annually. Governments including the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have warned they would break maritime laws.
Oman is an ally of the US but maintains close ties to Iran. It’s sometimes dubbed the “Switzerland of the Middle East” for its neutrality in geopolitical conflicts and was mediating between Washington and Tehran before their war erupted.
Muscat has sent mixed messages about the strait’s future. On Tuesday, it published a statement with Iran in which they said they would discuss how to operate the waterway and the costs associated with that. Two days later, it signed a statement from the US and Gulf Cooperation Council that “rejected any tolls, fees, or attempts to assert control over the Strait.”
“They said in the meeting and they signed on to the statement that said that there aren’t going to be any fees or tolls, and so I think that’s good news,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of Oman, while he was visiting Bahrain.
Omani officials have told European counterparts they are under pressure from Iran. The Islamic Republic fired missiles and drones across the Middle East during the conflict, including at Oman, and remains the leading military power in the Persian Gulf, despite the damage to its armed forces from the US-Israeli airstrikes.
“Oman is caught between a rock and a hard place trying to maintain a balancing act between Iran and the US,” said Bader Al-Saif, assistant professor at Kuwait University and associate fellow at Chatham House. “Doing so has more or less worked in the past. But with the two sides at war and constantly trying to outmaneuver one another, this Omani behavior will bite them eventually.”
Iran has already said ships crossing the chokepoint need to apply to it for insurance, and signaled the policies will only be free for roughly the next 60 days.
The issue is a key point of contention between Iran and the US as they continue negotiations over a permanent peace deal following almost four months of war. On Thursday, Rubio said Iran would have to keep the strait toll-free and ensure ships aren’t charged any fees if it wants a formal peace.
Otherwise, he said, there would be nothing stopping governments doing the same with other maritime chokepoints “and then we’re going to have chaos.”
Flows of oil through Hormuz have picked up since US President Donald Trump signed an interim peace agreement with Iran last week, causing a significant drop in crude prices.
Traffic remains far below pre-war levels and ships still face danger. On Thursday a container ship called Ever Lovely was hit in the strait.
Most governments say ships should be allowed to sail through Hormuz without paying any fees. That’s typically the same with other natural chokepoints bordering more than one country. The Malacca Strait is loosely managed between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, with the countries charging vessels for any navigation and security services that are needed.
Photograph: Boats anchored off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran; photo credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images