DUBAI, July 28 - Oman has secured the backing of Gulf partners for a plan that would allow Tehran to collect voluntary fees from vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf source told Reuters on Tuesday, offering a potential route to end the disruption to oil trade triggered by the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran.
The Omani-proposed arrangement would not place sole authority over the strait in Iran’s hands, the source said. Instead, fees would be voluntary, and the scheme would follow the model used in Asia's Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore request voluntary contributions from ships to support navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue services.
The discussions come against a backdrop of recent military activity and diplomatic maneuvering. President Donald Trump, who abruptly halted a two-week U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend in what his administration described as a strategic reversal, said there were "good talks" with Iran but warned that strikes could resume if negotiations failed to produce an agreement. Iran denies seeking to resume negotiations with the United States.
Washington had launched a renewed bombing campaign earlier this month, describing the objective as breaking Iran's effective control over the strait, which before the conflict carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. After the United States and Israel attacked on February 28, Iran effectively closed the strait to all vessels except its own. An interim deal between Washington and Tehran last month partially reopened the waterway, but that agreement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on ships using a channel it does not approve.
Under the Omani proposal, Iran would share management rather than exercise exclusive control of the strait, and any payments to Tehran would be voluntary, according to the Gulf source. The proposal aims to balance Iran's declared interest in managing the strait alongside Oman - which controls the opposite shore - with international concerns about mandatory fees. Washington has repeatedly stated it seeks a return to pre-war conditions in which vessels passed freely without payments and has called mandatory charges illegal.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi discussed the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani and Saudi counterparts on Monday and "stressed the need for regional cooperation." The statement did not elaborate further on operational details.
Recent military and diplomatic developments
The U.S. bombing campaign that resumed earlier this month lasted 13 nights and inflicted damage on multiple targets inside Iran, including bridges, tunnels and military installations in the south, according to U.S. accounts. Iranian responses included strikes on U.S. military bases in neighboring countries that killed four service members and attacks on civil infrastructure in Gulf states, which Tehran described as retaliation for U.S. strikes it said targeted civilian sites.
Following the weekend pause in bombardment, Trump said he had received military advice that the campaign had run its course and called off the latest round of air strikes. He also issued a conditional warning that strikes would resume if diplomacy did not yield results, stating: "I think there’s a good chance that something could happen, and if it does, good, if it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago."
Reports of continued unrest persisted even after the pause. Drone attacks were reported in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and northern Iran on Monday, and Jordan reported another drone being downed on Tuesday. Iran has stated it would refrain from further military action so long as Washington holds fire, but it has also denied initiating fresh talks with the United States and accused Washington of breaching the framework agreement reached last month on talks to end the war.
Impact on oil markets
The cessation of the U.S. bombing campaign over the weekend triggered a sharp drop in oil prices, with Brent crude futures tumbling around 8% on Monday and continuing to fall on Tuesday. By mid-morning on Tuesday Brent was down more than 2.5% at roughly $86 a barrel, reflecting market sensitivity to developments around the strait and to indications of a possible diplomatic resolution.
Washington and Tehran had reached an understanding in June on a framework for talks aimed at resolving substantive issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme, with the talks scheduled to take place by the end of August. However, the two sides have diverged in their interpretation of language in the framework relating to the strait: the United States insists the memorandum requires Iran to permit free passage, while Iran interprets the language as giving it authority to supervise transit.
Diplomatic dynamics and regional players
The U.S. president was scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday. Although Israel took part in the initial bombing campaign, it has not been included in subsequent peace talks, and relations between the two leaders had become strained. The United States has had to dissuade Israel from attacking targets in Lebanon intended to weaken Iran-backed Hezbollah, complicating broader negotiations with Tehran.
The Omani plan - as described by the Gulf source - seeks to provide a middle path that acknowledges Iran’s desire to play a role in managing the strait while avoiding compulsory payments or exclusive control. The proposal would rely on voluntary contributions to fund services that aid navigation and maritime safety, echoing an established multilateral approach used elsewhere.
How the proposal will be implemented, the timetable for any operational arrangements, and the reactions of Washington, Tehran and other regional actors remain uncertain. For now, proponents argue the voluntary-fee model could offer a pragmatic mechanism to reduce tensions and restore more regular commercial traffic through an internationally vital waterway.