Iran says its close to finalising a shipping route agreement with Oman

Iran's foreign minister on Sunday said a deal on new maritime routes through the Strait of Hormuz is close to being finalised with Oman.

Abbas Araghchi warned however that an agreement did not mean the waterway, crucial to global supplies of oil and natural gas, would be automatically reopened.

“The old routes will be replaced with new ones. Experts are currently working on the maps, he told reporters in Tehran.

“Reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on a separate set of conditions being met, and those conditions are being conveyed through intermediaries."

Araghchi said Washington must stop "violating" a memorandum of understanding signed in June, that was supposed to end weeks of fighting and reopen the strait, among other terms.

On Saturday Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the waterway would not open until the US “corrects its behaviour”.

It issued new demands, including that the US must never threaten Iran again and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region.

The statement also called for Washington to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw its military from the area.

It said the US must also “completely compensate” Iran for war damage, lift sanctions, and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.