Iran says Hormuz transit route with Oman will be 7 miles wide

Iran has agreed with Oman to establish a temporary seven-mile-wide transit route through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tuesday, while stressing that the arrangement does not amount to reopening the strategic waterway.

Speaking in an interview with Iranian television, Gharibabadi said the agreed route would run through Iranian territorial waters on entry, with part of the exit route also passing through Iranian waters.

“The agreed-upon width of the transit route with Oman in the Strait of Hormuz is seven miles,” Gharibabadi said, describing the route as a temporary arrangement.

He said Iran and Oman would hold further negotiations, which are expected to last between 30 and 60 days, to determine a permanent route and future arrangements for managing passage through the strait.

Gharibabadi emphasized that the agreement with Oman should not be interpreted as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and we have complete control over it,” he said, dismissing claims that ships were already passing through the waterway.

According to Gharibabadi, activating the joint route agreed with Oman would also mean closing the southern passage. He said the two countries had agreed to begin technical negotiations on an alternative to the historical route.

Gharibabadi said Iran considered the strait a matter of national security and had the right to take measures it deemed necessary to protect its interests.

The official also said Iran did not trust Washington and that any return to diplomacy would require the United States to first fulfill its commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

"Before any action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US must fully implement all of its violated commitments," he said.

"The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will only take place in exchange for an end to the war on all fronts, the lifting of the blockade, and a resolution of Yemen's status."

Gharibabadi said Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir had conveyed the same message during his recent visit to Tehran, telling Iranian officials that reopening the strait depended on Washington fulfilling its commitments.

'No one except Iran knows the location of these mines'

Gharibabadi also rejected reports that US forces had cleared mines in the waterway or were preparing to send mine-sweeping vessels into the area.

“If the United States claims that the mines have been completely cleared, why doesn't a US ship pass through?” he said. “If they have cleared them, why don't they pass? No one except Iran knows the location of these mines.”

He warned that US mine-sweeping vessels entering the area would be considered targets.

“If US mine-sweepers enter the region, they will become targets for us,” Gharibabadi said, adding that US President Donald Trump’s comments about mine clearance were intended only to calm markets.

Earlier, Trump said that all mines have been successfully removed or detonated in the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran has been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines will be immediately and systematically destroyed,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.