Iran-Oman Hormuz Pact Means No Automatic Opening of Strait — Reports
In this Sunday, July 21, 2019 photo, a speedboat of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard trains a weapon toward the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday by the Guard, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Global stock markets were subdued Monday while the price of oil climbed as tensions in the Persian Gulf escalated after Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker on Friday. 
The framework understanding on shipping routes is “set to be announced soon,” but is solely between Iran and Oman and will keep Hormuz’s southern route closed, a source close to the Iranian negotiating team told Tasnim.The agreement reportedly “establishes specific details for new entry and exit routes,” with the inbound route lying “entirely within Iranian territorial waters,” along with “a portion of the outbound route.” Traffic will operate under “Iranian arrangements.”
Once implemented, the southern route that the US had pressed to reopen — and which the source described as a key cause of the latest tensions — will remain closed.
The source stressed that the Iran-Oman agreement “in no way means the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.” Tehran has communicated seven conditions to the US through intermediaries. The conditions have been approved by Iran’s highest authorities, and Hormuz will remain closed until they are fulfilled.
The conditions include:a halt to threatsan end to attacks, including Israeli attacks on Lebanonthe lifting of the naval blockadethe withdrawal of US forces from the regionthe payment of war damagesthe lifting of sanctionsthe release of frozen assets
