{"text":[[{"start":7.9,"text":"Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a deal temporarily managing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as regional states seek a pathway to ease hostilities over the waterway."}],[{"start":22.38,"text":"The gathering, an Omani initiative, would be the first meeting between the top diplomats from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and a senior Iranian official since the US and Israel launched the war against the Islamic republic in February."}],[{"start":36.96,"text":"It is scheduled to be held on Monday in the Omani coastal city of Salalah, according to two people briefed on the matter. One of the people said the details were not finalised, but that a number of states had confirmed and it was expected to go ahead."}],[{"start":50.98,"text":"Tehran and Muscat said just over two weeks ago that they were finalising a temporary agreement under which vessels would enter the strait through Iranian waters and exit mostly through Omani territory. However, diplomats caution that for the strait to fully reopen, the US and Iran would have to agree to a deal."}],[{"start":68.8,"text":"If the meeting took place, it would underline the sense of urgency in the region on the need to try and reopen the Strait of Hormuz and de-escalate hostilities between the US and Iran, which continue to battle over the vital artery for global energy exports."}],[{"start":83.5,"text":"It also suggests that Gulf powers want to reduce tensions with Tehran after Iranian forces fired barrages of missiles and drones at their Arab neighbours in retaliation for the US-Israeli bombardment, a recognition of the fact they have to manage relations if the region is to return to any semblance of stability."}],[{"start":100.56,"text":"“For Iran and Oman it is about getting the GCC on board to try and use that to get the US to lift its blockade on Iranian ports,” said one of the people briefed on the matter. GCC states, meanwhile, want to ensure that “whatever is agreed is temporary and they are able to get ships in and out”."}],[{"start":118.74,"text":"The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have maintained diplomatic communications with Iran, despite Iranian attacks against them."}],[{"start":131.8,"text":"The last time Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi attended a GCC gathering was October 2024 in Doha."}],[{"start":136.8,"text":"Oman, whose territorial waters run through the Hormuz and which has sought to pursue a neutral stance throughout the war, has been holding weeks of talks with the Islamic regime in an attempt to reach a temporary deal on a corridor for commercial ships to transit the waterway without paying fees."}],[{"start":155.72,"text":"An interim deal on the strait — intended to last until Iran agrees to the future status of the chokepoint with its Gulf neighbours — had been viewed as a possible pathway to ease the US-Iranian hostilities over the waterway."}],[{"start":169.2,"text":"Initially, it was hoped an Iran-Oman deal could be a step back to a shortlived memorandum of understanding that Iran and the US signed in June. This was supposed to extend a ceasefire by 60 days, gradually reopen the Hormuz and lead to talks on a final settlement to end the war, including a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme."}],[{"start":189.52,"text":"But both Tehran and Washington accused each other of violating the agreement — in part because of a dispute over how ships should transit through the strait, Iran’s main source of leverage — setting off a cycle of escalating tit-for-tat strikes."}],[{"start":203.56,"text":"The US has told mediators that it will not return to the MoU and would only agree to a more comprehensive deal that also covers an element of the nuclear file, one of the people briefed on the talks said."}],[{"start":214.96,"text":"Iran, meanwhile, has insisted that even if it finalises the agreement with Oman on the strait, it will only allow the waterway to fully open if the US meets its conditions, which include lifting a blockade on Iranian ports, reinstating a waiver to allow it to sell oil and allowing it to access some of its assets frozen overseas."}],[{"start":234.12,"text":"There are no talks between the US and Iran. But mediators have kept open diplomatic back channels between the warring parties as they work on a new proposal, in the hope of bringing the parties back to the negotiating table."}],[{"start":246.76,"text":"A Qatari delegation visited Tehran twice last week as part of the renewed diplomatic push to halt the conflict, now in its seventh month."}],[{"start":255.24,"text":"While Donald Trump has claimed that the strait is open, Gulf energy exports have been throttled and they are unable to import goods through the waterway."}],[{"start":263.48,"text":"The sense of urgency has increased following an offensive by Houthi rebels in Yemen designed to assert control over the Bab al-Mandeb, another strategic maritime trade route. Brent, the international benchmark for crude, rose to $105 a barrel on Thursday."}],[{"start":285.36,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789109570_9897.mp3"}