A satellite view of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
Gallo Images | getty images
Iran and Oman are drafting a protocol to “monitor transit” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted an official as saying on Thursday morning.
Iran’s deputy minister of legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, said tanker traffic through the key oil-shipping route “should be supervised and coordinated” with both countries, according to a translation of the IRNA report.
“Of course, these requirements will not mean restrictions, but rather facilitating and ensuring safe passage and providing better services to ships passing through this route,” Gharibabadi reportedly said.
US stock indexes, which were trading sharply lower on Thursday morning after President Donald Trump signaled that the Iran war would continue for weeks to come, suddenly surged higher after the IRNA report.
Oil prices, which had similarly risen overnight, fell from the day’s highs on the Oman news.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for much of the world’s oil transit, has been effectively closed since the war began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
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