Oman Postpones Iran-Gulf Hormuz Talks as Attacks Undercut Diplomacy

LONDON, The meeting was supposed to be historic. For the first time since the Iran war erupted nearly seven months ago, foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iraq and Iran were to sit down together in Salalah, in the mountain-cooled south of Oman, to talk about what comes next for the Strait of Hormuz. It didn't happen.

Oman announced late Sunday that the gathering, planned for Monday the 14th of September, had been called off. "In the interests of consensus the regional meeting set for tomorrow in Salalah has been postponed," Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote on X, in a statement reported by CNN. He gave no new date.

The collapse came with almost no warning. <cite index="22-3">Iran and a group of Gulf Arab states had been scheduled to sit down in Salalah to discuss security arrangements around the Strait of Hormuz, in what would have been one of the few multilateral forums to bring Tehran and its neighbours to the same table since the crisis began.</cite> <cite index="22-7">Delegations from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar had been expected to attend, and Omani officials had spent weeks quietly shuttling between capitals to secure their participation.</cite>

What broke the moment was violence on the ground. <cite index="22-9,22-10">Days before the talks were due to open, drone strikes launched from Iraq hit Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a seven-million-barrel-a-day artery that lets Riyadh bypass Hormuz entirely en route to Red Sea terminals. The line was shut down, removing at a stroke the one major alternative Gulf producers have relied on whenever the strait itself grows too dangerous to use.</cite> <cite index="22-11">Hours before Albusaidi's announcement, an Iranian cargo vessel was struck off Qeshm Island, killing one person and injuring four, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations body reported a separate attack on a transiting vessel that started a serious fire.</cite>

<cite index="20-3">An Iranian foreign ministry official said regional countries had requested the delay of the scheduled meeting, which Tehran and Muscat agreed upon jointly.</cite> That framing matters: neither side wants to be seen as having walked away.

The underlying stakes are considerable. <cite index="16-2">Until the war's start, about 25 percent of the world's seaborne oil trade and 20 percent of the world's liquefied natural gas passed through the strait.</cite> <cite index="16-3">Soon after the start of the conflict, the number of tankers trafficking the strait dropped near zero.</cite>

Oman had been trying to build a legal and commercial framework that might give all parties a reason to keep ships moving. <cite index="10-7">After months of private discussions on a complicated possible legal framework to reopen the strait that could allow Iran and Oman to collect fees, diplomats had been hopeful the gathering could create some momentum for a deal.</cite> <cite index="21-10">The Omani framework includes voluntary payment for providing navigational safety and environmental protection, according to three sources familiar with the plans, as reported by CNN.</cite>

But Tehran's conditions remain steep. <cite index="27-12">Iran argues it can open the strait, even on a limited basis, only if there are concessions such as the lifting of U.S. sanctions and the release of its frozen overseas assets.</cite> Washington, for its part, isn't in the room and isn't keen to be. <cite index="21-11">Trump administration officials have privately told those in the Gulf region that they want to refocus any future U.S.-Iran negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program and not reopening the strait, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as reported by CNN.</cite> <cite index="21-8">Despite shipping traffic remaining depressed, President Donald Trump has insisted the state of the waterway is acceptable for now, with the U.S. military escorting oil tankers.</cite>

That American absence is part of what made the Salalah format unusual, and part of what made it so fragile. <cite index="10-12">The likelihood of Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Iran getting behind a comprehensive plan to open the waterway will be virtually impossible without the U.S. at the table.</cite>

<cite index="22-13">Underneath the immediate shocks sits a harder problem: the Gulf states cannot agree on how to deal with Iran.</cite> <cite index="18-4">No country in the region had publicly confirmed its participation before the postponement, while Bahrain ruled out attending altogether.</cite>

Oman, which has historically positioned itself as the Gulf's preferred back channel, it brokered earlier rounds of U.S.-Iran nuclear contacts, says it hasn't given up. Albusaidi wrote that Muscat remains "determined to promote dialogue that contributes to stability and lasting cooperation." The question now is whether the security situation will allow anyone else in the region to say the same.

Sources cited:
- CNN Politics (https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/13/politics/iran-gulf-countries-strait-of-hormuz)
- Bloomberg (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-11/gulf-states-may-meet-iran-next-week-to-discuss-future-of-hormuz)
- Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/9/14/iran-war-live-oman-says-hormuz-talks-with-iran-gulf-states-postponed)
- The Week India (https://www.theweek.in/news/middle-east/2026/09/14/strait-of-hormuz-security-talks-oman-postponed.html)
- Malay Mail (https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2026/09/14/oman-postpones-iran-gulf-talks-on-strait-of-hormuz/235105)