Diplomatic efforts to ease tensions around the Strait of Hormuz suffered a setback on Monday after Oman postponed a planned meeting between Iran and Gulf states, while attacks around the region’s major oil transit routes continued to raise concerns over global energy supplies.
Oman’s Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, announced that the regional meeting scheduled for Monday had been postponed “in the interests of consensus”. Iranian officials had been expected to attend the meeting with Gulf Arab states to present an agreement reached with Oman on governing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Fars news agency cited an Iranian Foreign Ministry official as saying the postponement followed a request from some regional countries and was jointly agreed by Tehran and Muscat. The official said Iran would coordinate with Oman to determine a suitable date for the meeting.
The development came after Saudi Arabia shut its 1,200-kilometre East-West Pipeline, which has served as a major route for moving Middle East crude while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline was attacked over the weekend, although Saudi Arabia has not disclosed the full extent of the damage or how long it will remain offline.
The Strait of Hormuz also remained exposed to further attacks. The British maritime security agency UKMTO said a vessel was struck by a projectile while transiting the waterway, causing a fire and forcing the crew to evacuate. Iran separately reported that one person was killed and four crew members were wounded aboard an Iranian commercial vessel struck off its coast.
Preliminary ship-tracking data showed commodity vessel transits through Hormuz had fallen to single digits per day over the weekend, compared with a 10-day average of 14. The figures exclude vessels that may have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States satisfies Tehran’s demands, despite any agreement reached with Oman. The strait carried about one-fifth of global oil supplies before the war.
The disruption has also extended to the Red Sea corridor, where Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces have continued attacks on Saudi Arabia following their advance along the Red Sea coast and capture of Perim Island near the Bab el-Mandeb.
The Houthi advance and attacks have created additional security challenges for Gulf states and Washington, which is seeking to protect shipping and support Saudi Arabia while avoiding another military front.
Meanwhile, Saudi oil buyers and traders told Reuters that Riyadh has enough crude stored at its Red Sea port of Yanbu to maintain exports for only five to seven days if the East-West Pipeline remains shut. After that, as much as 4% of global oil supply could be jeopardised, on top of volumes already affected by disruption to traffic through Hormuz.