Oman Postpones Monday's Iran-GCC Hormuz Talks Hours Before Start, Citing Need for Conditions Conducive to Constructive Dialogue

Oman postponed the Iran-GCC ministerial meeting scheduled for Monday September 14 in Salalah, announcing the decision late Sunday evening just hours before the talks were set to begin. Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi said the postponement was necessary to ensure appropriate conditions for constructive dialogue that can help achieve sustainable understandings, support regional security and stability, and meet the aspirations of the region's peoples. No new date was announced. The meeting was intended to discuss Iran and Oman's proposal for managing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded since the US-Israel war on Iran began February 28. The postponement followed Bahrain's announcement Saturday that it would not participate in any collective meeting involving Iran before diplomatic relations between the two countries are restored. Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said security and stability in the region cannot be preserved through a policy of appeasement and called for the Strait of Hormuz to be opened without fees, permits or discrimination. Iran had conveyed seven undisclosed conditions to Washington through intermediaries earlier in the week that Iranian officials said must be met before the strait reopens. Iranian parliament national security committee head Ebrahim Azizi stated Saturday that as long as the American side does not accept all of Iran's conditions, dialogue and negotiation are of no use. The collapse of the planned talks leaves no clear diplomatic pathway to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil supplies previously flowed. Iran now requires vessels transiting the strait to obtain permission and is considering imposing service fees, while ships that do not comply are regularly targeted by Iranian strikes. The United States periodically bombs the Iranian coastline to challenge Tehran's control of the waterway.