Iran says progress made in talks with Oman on Strait of Hormuz

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman says there has been progress in talks with Oman on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Ismail Barre says several rounds of discussions have been held in Tehran. Both sides discussed mechanisms for managing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Well, Rasool Sardar is joining us now live from Tehran. Rasool, what have you learned so far regarding Iran's position in these talks over the management of the Strait of Hormuz? Well, last time when these face-to-face talks between Omanis and Iranians have happened was just before the renewed conflicts. And the foreign minister of Iran was heading a delegation, an Iranian delegation in Oman in Muscat meeting his Omani counterpart. And in that meeting, so there was a proposal of the Omanis simply suggesting two separately controlled maritime roads. And so the northern one to be under Iranian control and the southern one passing through the Omani territorial water to be under Oman's control. But Iranians back then were not keen to embark on that because they believed that this could eventually bypass Iran. So Iranians are still insisting that the Memorandum of Understanding gives Iranians full control, authority to be in full control of the whole Strait of Hormuz now. So after 13 days of renewed attacks, once again we're seeing that the Omani delegation have visited Tehran here. And now the spokesperson of the foreign minister saying that there have been progress in talks. Now they're talking about a mechanism to manage the Strait of Hormuz. However, here the critical thing is that he was asked whether there has been any change regarding Iran's position or the status of the Strait of Hormuz. Ismail Bakayi said that there has been no change in the status of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. But he did not directly talk about Iran's position, rather about the maritime traffic. So what we understand, there are the engagements and the parties are showing a sort of flexibility. However, we do not know the extent of that flexibility yet. Rasool, it's now been two nights in Iran without U.S. airstrikes happening. What are you hearing about that from people you're speaking with on the ground there? What do they think that this potentially signifies? Well, here the general understanding is that this is a pause, not an end to the war. And there are expectations that the war is going to resume because still there's a huge gap between the position of the parties. But on the other hand, there are still hopes as well that the diplomatic initiatives are ongoing and the parties could somehow find a solution for this. So what we know is that the Qatari and Pakistani mediators are heavily involved in a diplomatic process and the messages are being exchanged between Tehran and Washington. There are proposals here. And also the Omanis particularly focusing on the status of the Strait of Hormuz. So this is another track. And at a regional level, so Turks, Egyptians, Pakistanis are also once again involved. So when we see a process between Oman and Iran and a process initiated by the Qatari and Pakistani mediators, and then at the regional level, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan once again being involved to de-escalate the situation. So far, the main problem is that there is a lack of trust between the two parties. So Americans are accusing Iranians of not being serious about the talks and they believe that once Iran receives enough pain, it is going to come back to the negotiating table and show flexibility. And that is the same position when it comes to Tehran as well. Tehran also believes that the U.S. is not trustworthy and unless Tehran raises the cost for the United States, the United States is not going to come to the negotiating table. So both sides being convinced that if they inflict enough harm on the other, they are going to force the other side to the concession, so that is the dangerous equation here.