Hormuz traffic 90% below prewar levels as Oman, Iran hold talks on reopening strait

MUSCAT, Aug 21: Oman and Iran held talks Friday aimed at restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has fallen to about a tenth of prewar levels nearly six months into a regional conflict that has repeatedly disrupted the strategic waterway.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, spoke by phone amid continuing tensions between Iran and the United States and persistent security threats to vessels in the strait, the state-run Oman News Agency reported.

Both sides stressed the need for "practical understandings" that would allow the free flow of maritime traffic, the agency said. The two diplomats discussed "ways to create conditions conducive to resuming dialogue, to narrow differences and reach peaceful solutions … while taking the interests of all parties into account," it added.

The talks follow months of behind-the-scenes efforts to ease the crisis. In early August, Tehran said it had reached an understanding with Muscat on the geographic coordinates of a proposed maritime corridor for commercial vessels transiting the strait. Iran's foreign ministry said at the time that the two sides had agreed on the corridor's geographic criteria, though a joint statement detailing the main points of agreement had yet to be finalized.

Freight volumes remain far below normal as ships face continued attacks in regional waters. The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported Friday that traffic through the strait stood about 90 percent below prewar levels — down from 17 percent of its prewar average in mid-August, which itself had recovered from just 4 percent the previous week.

The decline follows the collapse of an earlier truce effort. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding calling for a cessation of hostilities and the restoration of shipping through the strait, but the deal fell apart amid disputes over the terms of its implementation and the future of navigation through the waterway.

The conflict began in late February with a surprise U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Tehran has responded by striking targets in Israel and U.S. military bases across the region.