After another broken ceasefire with the United States, Iran talks with Gulf leaders

After another broken ceasefire, Iran engaged with leaders in the Middle East region on Saturday to try to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United States, its Gulf neighbors – and the rest of the oil-dependent world – over passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

After two days of conflict between the United States and Iran – and even as Iran’s Supreme Leader and President Donald Trump exchanged threats – a new round of diplomacy focused on reopening the strait took place Saturday in the Omani capital, Muscat. An Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to the capital Muscat for further talks, a day after Qatar-brokered talks in Tehran.

A senior Middle East diplomat with direct knowledge of the negotiations told MS NOW that France and Britain are studying proposals drafted by Oman that could allow shipping fees to be imposed across the strait with the support of the United Nations International Maritime Organization, which oversees shipping routes.

Qatari mediators also held what an Iranian official called “positive” de-escalation talks in Tehran on Friday.

Qatar and Pakistan are making new diplomatic efforts to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table after new strikes this week threatened to plunge the region into a new round of protracted fighting, regional officials tell MS NOW.

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Two regional government officials familiar with the talks said a Qatari delegation visited Tehran as part of a coordinated effort with Pakistan to defuse the conflict and facilitate a new round of U.S.-Iran talks in Doha or Islamabad in the coming days.

The officials spoke to MS NOW on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of discussions surrounding nations at war.

Separately, an Iranian government official told MS NOW that Qatari mediators left Iran on Friday evening following discussions focused on “de-escalation” and considered “positive.” But the official disputed President Donald Trump’s assertion that Iran had asked the United States to continue negotiations.

“Iran has not agreed to continue negotiations with the United States,” the official said, adding that negotiations would only resume when Washington ends what Tehran considers ceasefire violations.

On Friday, Trump said the United States had agreed to Iran’s request to resume negotiations, but that the fragile ceasefire was “over.”

Saturday’s meeting, focused on the Strait of Hormuz, is seen as crucial because the latest escalation began after Iran allegedly attacked commercial ships that Tehran said were not following designated routes along the key waterway. The United States responded with two nights of strikes against Iran, hitting maritime targets along the country’s southern and eastern coasts. Iran then fired missiles and drones at US sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan.

The fighting has disrupted traffic through this vital chokepoint, through which about a fifth of the planet’s total oil supply passes. The number of ships transiting the strait has declined sharply, with a slight and brief increase following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran on June 18.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spent Friday working the phones, holding separate conversations with Iranian President Masoud Pzeshkian and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Sharif said on social media.

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Sharif said he told Pzeshkian that “restraint, dialogue and diplomacy” were necessary to protect the peace gains made in previous negotiations. He also reiterated Pakistan’s willingness to continue to act as an “honest and sincere mediator”.

During his conversation with Qatar’s emir, Sharif said he offered condolences over the Iranian strikes against US-allied countries and urged governments in the region to avoid any action that could further undermine stability.

The renewed mediation illustrated the now-familiar pattern of this conflict, now in its fifth month: Iran targeting ships in or around the Strait of Hormuz. The United States responds by striking Iran. Tehran responds by attacking US assets in neighboring Arab countries – including Qatar, even as Doha attempts to mediate. Pakistan and Qatar then intervene, calling for restraint and trying to get the two sides back in the same room.

Talks ensue, a temporary agreement is reached, but the underlying disputes remain unresolved and the cycle begins again, making it less of a peace process and more of a regional crisis management system.

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as the most immediate test, as Iran exercises greater authority over how ships move through the waterway. Washington and its Gulf partners reject any arrangement allowing Tehran to unilaterally impose routes, restrictions or payments.

“Expectations should remain limited” for a diplomatic breakthrough, a senior Gulf government official told MS NOW.

On Thursday, at the International Maritime Organization in London, Oman’s Undersecretary for Transport, Khamis bin Mohammed Al Shamakhi, “reaffirmed Oman’s commitment to the security and safety of international shipping lanes, the protection of lives and the uninterrupted flow of global trade,” according to Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement also said that the Omani delegation met with IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez. “They discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and continued coordination between Oman and the Organization in the areas of maritime security and safety, protection of the marine environment and enhanced response and coordination to address maritime challenges.”

Talks Saturday in Muscat between Iran and Oman, following the resumption of fighting between the United States and Iran, are particularly focused on the strait, the top Middle East diplomat said, in terms of “contested control of the Strait of Hormuz and its reopening” but also “long-term management of the waterway and freedom of navigation through it.”

Inzamam Rashid

Inzamam Rashid is an MS NOW contributor and Monocle Gulf correspondent based in Dubai. He has previously reported for Sky News and the BBC

Ian Sherwood

Ian Sherwood is director of international news gathering for MS NOW, former editor-in-chief of NBC News and former deputy Washington bureau chief for the BBC.

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