Talks between Iran and Oman over a fee-collection system for ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz suggest the two adversaries are nowhere close to resolving the war, according to The New York Times.
A social media post from Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority announced that the agency had established the boundaries of its management supervision zone over the strait, with all ships required to obtain permits before transiting, according to The Times. Ships approaching from the east must first pass through the Gulf of Oman, which borders the strait.
President Donald Trump dismissed any toll arrangement earlier this week. "We want it free," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to The Times. "We don't want tolls. It's international. It's an international waterway." Trump had previously both condemned the possibility of Iranian tolls and floated the idea that the U.S. could itself charge them, according to The Times.
The toll discussions come amid broader diplomatic stagnation. Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned this week that any new attack on the country would prompt strikes "in places you cannot even imagine," according to The New York Times. According to The Times, the president said Gulf leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar appealed for additional time to pursue a negotiated solution, prompting him to delay what he called a significant planned strike on Iran.
