Bloomberg: Joint control… They are already mocking Trump in Tehran

Tehran reaffirmed its country's determination to establish control over ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Thus, he raised the stakes on the eve of new negotiations on the final cessation of hostilities by the United States, writes Bloomberg.

Speaking on Iranian state television, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that Iran wants to conclude an agreement with Oman, which controls the other side of this crucial waterway, to monitor and control ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. But "if for any reason Oman is not interested in this," Iran will independently continue to implement its plans to control shipping, he said.

"We have warned the Omanis that other countries have no right to interfere in this matter," Garibabadi said.

This position complicates the holding of the next round of negotiations, which, according to the United States, should take place on Tuesday in Doha (Qatar). Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner are to take part in them, according to statements from the White House.

Since the beginning of the conflict in late February, when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, the Islamic Republic has stated that it wants to manage this strategic hub — which generally belongs to international waters — together with Oman. According to Tehran, such a mechanism may include the collection of certain fees from ships, which is sharply rejected by the United States, European countries and most of the Gulf states.

Oman is an ally of the United States, but at the same time maintains close ties with Iran. Washington and other world powers are putting pressure on him to persuade him to reject the idea of introducing any system of duties or fees jointly with Tehran. On Monday in France, the Omani leader, Sultan Haysam bin Tariq, agreed with President Emmanuel Macron to "ensure freedom of navigation without conditions and restrictions."

According to Bloomberg, Omani officials had previously informed their European counterparts that there would be no return to the pre-war status quo in relation to the Strait of Hormuz, and that fees for services such as cleaning the water area from pollution or assisting ships in navigation were possible. At the same time, Oman insists that it will comply with the norms of international maritime law.

Gharibabadi's statements were a new indication of Iran's determination regarding the strait, through which one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies usually pass. Shipping traffic has increased since Tehran and Washington signed an interim peace agreement about two weeks ago, but it is still well below pre-war levels, and on Thursday and Friday Iran attacked ships, leading to clashes with the United States.

The interim peace agreement stipulates that Iran will not charge fees for 60 days, but after the end of this period may impose some fees for ships passing through Hormuz.

Iran has not confirmed a new round of talks, although some senior officials are expected to be in Qatar, one of the main mediators between Washington and Tehran. Garibabadi previously said that "the Americans are going to Doha, but we have no plans to meet with them." At the same time, he acknowledged that an Iranian delegation would be there to monitor the implementation of the interim agreement — which both sides called a memorandum of understanding — through Qatari mediators.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, US President Donald Trump did not say whether he believed that the new negotiations would lead to a breakthrough success after a series of attacks in recent days that jeopardized the ceasefire deal between the two countries. He made it clear that the main focus remains on ensuring that Iran does not become the owner of nuclear weapons.

"Maybe a meeting in Doha will be important, and maybe not,— Trump said. — We will find out more about it, but militarily we are already winning. I would say that we almost won — it's really very simple. The main topic remains the denuclearization of Iran. We don't want them to have nuclear weapons, and they won't have them."

The United States, Europe and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf are increasingly worried about the possible introduction of fees for the passage of the Strait of Hormuz, as this will surely lead to an increase in the cost of energy and set a precedent for other countries. However, Iran's ability to dictate terms to carriers will be limited if the southern Oman route remains open to ship traffic.

At the moment, oil tankers continue to move through the strait, despite the strikes. Late on Monday evening, three tankers were heading towards the strait, and in the afternoon two vessels successfully left the strait, according to ship tracking data analyzed by Bloomberg.

Two more oil supertankers, including the one that turned back last week, are making another attempt to exit the The Persian Gulf.