Iran and Oman are drafting a protocol to “monitor transit” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported Thursday morning, citing an official.
Tanker traffic through the key oil-shipping route “should be supervised and coordinated” with the two countries, said Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister of legal and international affairs, according to a translation of IRNA’s report.
“Of course, these requirements will not mean restrictions, but rather to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships that pass through this route,” Gharibabadi reportedly said.
U.S. stock indexes, which were trading sharply lower Thursday morning after President Donald Trump signaled that the Iran war will continue for weeks to come, suddenly turned higher following IRNA’s report.
Oil prices, which likewise had surged overnight, eased from their highs of the day on the Oman news, which offered hope that the Strait of Hormuz may be able to reopen in some capacity without requiring military force.
The strait, a vital artery for much of the world’s oil transit, has been effectively closed since the war started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iran’s blockade has rapidly led to a historic surge in oil prices, creating a cascading crisis with widespread impacts around the world.
Trump insists that the U.S. is unaffected by the closure because it imports comparatively little oil via the strait. “We haven’t needed it, and we don’t need it,” he said in his address to the nation Wednesday night.
But average U.S. gas prices have nevertheless spiked more than 30% in a month, surpassing $4 per gallon for the first time in years.