Oman Presents Iran with Gulf-Backed Plan for Voluntary Fees to Use Hormuz

  • Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. The Omani proposals are intended to serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the U.S.-Israeli war ‌on Iran.
  • In June, Washington and Tehran reached an agreement on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran's nuclear programme. President Donald Trump, who abruptly called off a two-week U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend in his latest strategic U-turn, said there were "good talks" underway with Iran but threatened to restart strikes unless negotiations deliver. Iran denies seeking to resume talks with the United States. 
  • Previously, Iran had said it wants to manage the strait alongside Oman, which controls the opposite shore, and charge service fees to ships that use it. However, Washington wants to ⁠return to the status quo prior to the war, when ships were able to pass freely with no payments, and says charging mandatory fees would be illegal.
  • Under the Omani proposal, Iran would not exercise sole control and fees would be voluntary, the Gulf source and Western diplomat briefed on the matter told Reuters.
  • The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia's Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations. The Western diplomat compared it to a voluntary carbon tax for flights, where anyone buying a plane ticket can choose to tick a box if they want to pay to offset their emissions.
  • The end of the U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend sent oil prices tumbling by around 8% on Monday, and the fall continued on Tuesday. Brent crude futures were down around 1.6% at close to $87 a barrel by mid-morning on Tuesday.

(Source: Reuters)