LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Iran's deputy foreign minister says his country is close to a deal to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The deal may not even involve the U.S. Instead, it's being hammered out between Iran and Oman, which is located on the southern edge of the strait, one of the most important waterways for oil and gas exports.
FADEL: To discuss what the deal might entail, we're joined now by reporter Sameer Hashmi in Dubai. Good morning, Sameer.
SAMEER HASHMI, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So what do we know about this potential agreement?
HASHMI: Well, Iran says that the deal with Oman is in its final stages but hasn't shared the precise details. What the country's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said is that the talks with Oman have covered technical arrangements, the security details and a proposed joint coordination center between the two countries to manage maritime traffic.
Now, he was also speaking to Iran's state media. And in an interview, he said that under the proposed arrangement, temporary routes would allow ships to pass through Iran's waters and exit through Oman's waters. Now, Iranian officials have also stated that this would not be the complete reopening of the strait. And according to Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, when he was speaking to the press, he said that the deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation due to, quote, a U.S. blockade of Iran's ports.
Now, these negotiations have been on for the last three weeks, and they're hoping to - they're on the verge of finalizing it, is what these officials are saying.
FADEL: Is the U.S. involved at all in these talks?
HASHMI: Well, Iran denies it. Iran says it's directly negotiating with Oman and it's not talking to the United States. However, we heard from President Trump earlier this week, saying that the U.S. was in talks with Iran and he - they were also discussing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. And he also threatened that this was Tehran's last chance for a deal. Otherwise, the U.S. would strike them again. And he also said yesterday that he expects the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to be announced soon - in the next few days - and the talks have made progress.
FADEL: Yeah. And we should point out this was all open to shipping before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than five months ago. Will the deal give Iran de facto control of the strait?
HASHMI: It's tough to say at this stage because we don't know the exact details of this deal that has been hammered between Iran and Oman. But if you see the statements that have come out from Iran over the past few months since the war started, and even during the ceasefire which was announced in June, Iranian officials have insisted that they need to have some sort of control over the strait, whether it's taking permission from Iranian officials - ships taking permission from them or paying a toll. So they have made those statements consistently.
FADEL: So there are talks to open the Strait of Hormuz again, but that hasn't stopped the attacks. There were attacks on another key shipping route on the Red Sea. What can you tell us about that?
HASHMI: Yeah. On Wednesday, the Houthis, which is the Yemeni group backed by Iran - Iran-backed militia - they said that they had struck two Saudi oil tankers on Wednesday on the Red Sea. And they also threatened to intensify these attacks in an effort to close all access routes to Saudi oil shipments. Now, this is a critical route to export oil for the Saudis, especially since the Strait of Hormuz has shut. So the Saudis are relying on this route to send shipments carrying oil since the war started. So if this is also blocked, it would add more uncertainty for oil supplies coming out from this region and add to the oil volatility that we have been seeing.
FADEL: That's reporter Sameer Hashmi in Dubai. Thank you so much for your reporting.
HASHMI: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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