Oman presents plan for Strait of Hormuz fees to Iran

Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat have told Reuters.

The plan could serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

President Donald Trump, who abruptly called off a two-week US. bombing campaign over the weekend in his latest strategic U-turn, said there were "good talks" under way with Iran but threatened to restart strikes unless negotiations deliver. Iran denies seeking to resume talks with the United States.

Washington launched its renewed bombing campaign earlier this month to break Iran's grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.

Iran effectively shut the strait to ships other than its own after the United States and Israel attacked on 28 February. A deal last month between the United States and Iran partially reopened it, but the agreement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on ships using a channel it does not approve.

Iran has said it wants to manage the strait alongside Oman, which controls the opposite shore, and charge service fees to ships that use it. Washington wants to return to the status quo prior to the war, when ships were able to pass freely with no payments, and says charging mandatory fees would be illegal.

Under the Omani proposal, Iran would not exercise sole control and fees would be voluntary, the Gulf source and Western diplomat briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia's Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations.

The Western diplomat compared it to a voluntary carbon tax for flights, where anyone buying a plane ticket can choose to tick a box if they want to pay to offset their emissions.

The Gulf source said that as of Monday evening there had been no formal response from Iran to the proposal. Omani officials met Iranians in Tehran over the weekend.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi discussed the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani and Saudi counterparts yesterday and stressed the need for regional cooperation, an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said.

Mr Trump called off his latest campaign of air strikes after receiving advice from military commanders that the strategy had run its course. The 13 nights of renewed US bombing killed scores of people in Iran and destroyed bridges and tunnels across the south as well as military targets.

Iran had responded with attacks on US bases in neighbouring countries that killed four service members, and strikes on civil infrastructure in Gulf states that it said were in response to US strikes on civilian targets.

Iran has said it would hold fire as long as Washington does. But drone attacks were reported in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and northern Iran on Monday, and Jordan reported another drone being downed on Tuesday.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Trump expressed optimism for a deal to end the five-month conflict, while warning that US strikes would resume if negotiations failed to deliver.

"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," he said.

Iran says it has not sought any new negotiations with the United States, which it accuses of violating the agreement reached last month on a framework for talks to end the war.

Trump to meet Netanyahu for first time since Iran war began

The US president is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington today.

Although Israel was involved in the initial bombing campaign, it has not been part of subsequent peace talks, and recent relations between the two leaders have been strained.

Mr Trump has had to rein in the Israeli leader from attacking targets in Lebanon to try to weaken Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, complicating peace talks with Tehran.

Mr Netanyahu's visit comes months ahead of Israel's national elections, in which he plans to seek another term.

Recent polls show Mr Netanyahu trailing, with public anger still lingering over his government's failure to prevent Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.

The end of the US bombing campaign over the weekend sent oil prices tumbling by around 8% yesterday, and the fall continued today. Brent crude futures were down more than 2.5% at around $86 a barrel by mid-morning today.

Washington and Tehran reached an agreement in June on a framework for talks meant to take place by the end of August to resolve major issues such as Iran's nuclear programme.

But they have disputed the meaning of the memorandum's language about the strait, with Washington insisting it requires Tehran to allow free travel, while Iran says it grants it the authority to supervise transit.

New round of Israel-Lebanon talks set for August 4 - US official

The US State Department has confirmed that the next round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Rome on 4 August through 6 August, as Israel prepares to withdraw from two "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani first announced the next round of US-mediated talks last week, with a State Department official detailing the talks on the condition of anonymity.

"In Rome, technical groups will focus on advancing the full implementation of the framework agreement," the official told AFP, adding that the planned discussion "includes expanding the pilot zone process, resolving all outstanding border issues, and working on a comprehensive peace and security agreement."

The Israel-Lebanon framework deal emerged after war broke out between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah on 2 March, against the backdrop of the wider Middle East war.

It calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, disarmament of the Lebanese movement, the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south and for Israeli forces to steadily withdraw from the country in two "pilot zones."

"The experience of the initial zones will help us perfect pilot-zone implementation so it can expand in a phased manner," the US official added.

Lebanon's army on Sunday condemned Israel's ongoing military operations in the south of the country, arguing it was preventing its full deployment under the framework deal.

Beirut has reported intermittent Israeli strikes and artillery shelling on the south despite the lull in fighting.