Diplomacy
Bahrain will not sit. Iran will show maps. The strait is not open.
Salalah Monday. Araghchi: a new lane, not a reopening. Fees still argued.
The Rocket News · World Desk · Muscat / SalalahSeptember 13, 2026 · 4 min read
Gulf ministers sit with Iran on Monday in Salalah. Bahrain will not. Manama said Saturday it will not take part in any collective meeting with Tehran until diplomatic ties are restored. They were cut in 2016. The World desk files an empty chair, not a strait.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed the only agenda is a new maritime route. Iran and Oman have maps and a joint statement for the IMO. The agreement, he said, does not reopen Hormuz. It sets the lanes if conditions for a reopening are met. Fees on hulls are still argued. Oman has rejected a toll.
The main, and indeed the only, agenda of this meeting is the new maritime route.
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Talks with Washington on the blockade are stalled. A hull burned off Qeshm this morning. Diesel in America is a record. Qatar still wants the strait opened with no conditions. The World desk files Monday as a table: maps, an empty chair, and a channel that is still a war.
Wire and further reading: nytimes.com
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