An ultraconservative Iranian outlet warned on Wednesday that a temporary shipping corridor announced by Oman in coordination with the International Maritime Organization could become a “direct challenge” to Iran’s position in the Strait of Hormuz.
Raja News argued that the Omani route, which it said runs south of the traditional Traffic Separation Scheme and through Omani coastal waters, could create a parallel system for shipping in Hormuz outside Iranian oversight.
The report came after Oman announced on June 23 that it was providing vessels with the option of using a temporary maritime corridor in the Strait of Hormuz, coordinated with the IMO and based on coordinates announced by the UN shipping agency and Omani authorities.
Oman said the corridor was in line with efforts by the United States and Iran and was intended to guarantee freedom of navigation “without imposing any tolls.” It said ships seeking to transit should coordinate with the IMO.
The IMO said the corridor was part of a wider evacuation plan for more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the region after months of disruption to civilian shipping.
“We have secured the necessary safety guarantees and have thoroughly verified the conditions for safe navigation to support these operations,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a June 23 statement.
Raja News said Oman’s reference to free passage with no tolls was the key point, arguing that it could undercut any Iranian effort to shape future transit terms in Hormuz.
Raja News described the Omani corridor as a “dangerous” step, saying it could divert ships from a northern passage announced by Iran after the usual shipping lane through Hormuz was disrupted during the recent conflict.
It also argued that the route could preserve a US security role in the strait while presenting it as voluntary support for safe transit rather than a coercive military presence.
Raja News said the issue required a rapid response from Iran’s negotiating team and, if necessary, from military institutions, to prevent what it called an apparently temporary arrangement from becoming entrenched.
“Oman’s decision, made just one day after talks with Iranian officials in Muscat, requires a swift response from Iran’s negotiating team and, if necessary, the country’s military institutions to prevent this apparently temporary precedent from being implemented and entrenched in the Strait of Hormuz,” the report said.
Oman’s statement, however, framed the measure as a temporary maritime option tied to freedom of navigation, international law and the law of the sea.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio framed the dispute as a test of Iran’s conduct rather than its rhetoric, effectively placing Washington behind the Omani-IMO route as an operational benchmark for safe passage through Hormuz.
He said Iranian officials and media could continue making “maximalist” public statements, but warned that if such rhetoric translated into threats against vessels or disruption of shipping, Washington would treat it as a violation of the agreement.
