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Oman

August 7, 2026

Muscat 5:27 am

32°C

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Explainer

Iran-Oman deal spurs Hormuz hopes as Red Sea threats evolve

Iran has signaled that an agreement was reached with Oman establishing a Hormuz shipping route even as Houthi attacks in the Red Sea expand.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (2nd L), Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (2nd R) and Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi (R) walk inside a building in Muscat, Oman, on June 22, 2026.

Explainer

The emerging Iran-Oman Hormuz deal: What's at stake?

A framework that gives Tehran a formal role in determining how ships move through the waterway could strengthen its hand in future negotiations with the US.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L), Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (2nd L) and Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi (R) attend a meeting in Muscat, Oman, on June 22, 2026.

Explainer

Iran-Oman Hormuz route talks near 'completion': What to know

The new framework would give Iran a greater role in managing one of the world’s most strategically important maritime choke points.

Latest News

Analysis

As US ties fray, top Oman official visits China: What to know

China Oman mtg

Joyce Karam

By Joyce Karam , Rosaleen Carroll

Oil climbs after US strikes Iran, Trump vows to control Strait of Hormuz

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Karen Young

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

Hezbollah responds to GCC decision

In a speech following the GCC’s decision to label Hezbollah a terrorist organization, the movement’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, intensified his criticism of Saudi Arabia, indicating a readiness to go all the way in the confrontation.

What fading oil fortunes means for Turkey's businesses

Turkish businesspeople are losing sleep over oil-producing states' deferrals of payments to international contractors and the possible loss of mega projects.

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) welcomes Oman's Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said as he plays host to leaders and delegations from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries at the White House in Washington May 13, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTX1CV9P

How Oman is helping Obama shut down Guantanamo Bay

As the primary destination for transferred Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Oman solidifies its role as a diplomatic back channel for the United States.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Iran.

A view of the gas field development section of South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Asalouyeh, Seaport, 900 km (560 miles) southwest of Tehran July 19, 2010. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR2GJLU

Iran-India energy cooperation opens new horizons

While the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline may sound the death knell to the Iran-Pakistan-India project, the Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline may deliver Iranian gas to India through an undersea pipeline.

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said (R) meets with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Muscat March 12, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani (OMAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR3GQ5T

Oman, stuck between Saudi Arabia and Iran

With a long history as a regional mediator and close ties with both Riyadh and Tehran, will Oman be able to cool the recent Saudi-Iranian tensions following the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr?

Soldiers loyal to Yemen's government and members of an engineering team stand next to destroyed transmission towers during a search for landmines left by the Houthi rebels in the Mas area, which was taken by pro-government army from the Houthis, in the country's central province of Marib, December 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Owidha - RTX203Z5

Can Oman help Saudis save face in Yemen?

Oman, the only GCC country that did not join the Saudi coalition fighting in Yemen, could help the Saudis negotiate peace there.

Iran's head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi attends a seminar at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo, Japan, November 5, 2015. Iran has begun shutting down uranium enrichment centrifuges under the terms of a deal struck with six world powers in July on limiting its nuclear programme, Tehran's atomic energy chief said on November 2, 2015 during a visit to Tokyo. REUTERS/Yuya Shino - RTX1UTJP

Salehi reveals new details of secret US, Iran back channel

In an extensive interview, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's atomic chief and former foreign minister, reveals new details of the secret back channel to the United States.

Iran's military bulks up with new Russian tanks

Tehran plans to purchase T-90 tanks from Russia, but is it enough to strengthen the Iranian military?

Oman looks East

As Oman practices diplomacy in the Middle East, it also is strengthening ties with China as a potential long-term partner.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Saudi Arabia's King Salman (R) at Erga Palace in Riyadh, January 27, 2015. Obama is stopping in Saudi Arabia on his way back to Washington from India to pay his condolences over the death of King Abdullah and to hold bilateral meetings with King Salman. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR4N551

What Obama should say to King Salman during his visit

The inaugural visit of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to Washington offers US President Barack Obama a unique opportunity to address the long-standing tensions and rivalry between Iran, Iraq and the GCC states.

Oman’s diplomatic bridge to Syria

By inviting Syria’s foreign minister to Muscat, Oman has signaled its interest in contributing to the resolution of Syria’s civil war.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) welcomes Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before a meeting in Damascus January 15, 2014, in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. AN UNPROCESSED VERSION W

Zarif presses diplomacy on Syria

Iran brokers humanitarian cease-fires in Syria; Yair Lapid discusses “dreadful gamble” in US-Israel relations; Turkey’s Stone Age temple may predate Stonehenge and Egyptian pyramids by thousands of years.