Tehran and its allies' escalation scuttles the Salalah meeting
The postponement of the regional Salalah meeting reflects a setback in the diplomatic track, amid Iran and its allies’ insistence on an escalationist approach. While Tehran’s proxies in Iraq and Yemen carried out heinous attacks on economic and civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia in recent days—most notably the terrorist attack targeting the East-West oil pipeline—Iran has maintained its refusal to halt the disruption of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. It continues to demand the collection of fees from transiting vessels and control over maritime traffic, while simultaneously sustaining threats against neighboring countries, effectively eliminating any prospects for the meeting to take place.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi announced on the evening of the day before yesterday that the meeting had been postponed to a later date, in order to “create conducive conditions for a constructive dialogue that contributes to achieving sustainable understandings supporting the region’s security and stability and meeting the aspirations of its peoples for cooperation and peace.”
The extent of Iran’s intransigence became apparent on the eve of the meeting. On Saturday, Reuters reported that a senior Iranian official stated that Tehran still demands an agreement allowing it to collect fees from vessels using the strait, a position opposed by the Sultanate of Oman.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had stated that the meeting would allow participating countries to review the details of the new maritime route agreed upon by Iran and Oman. Araghchi and other Iranian officials emphasized that the understanding with Muscat does not imply the immediate reopening of the strait, but rather lays the foundation that may permit its reopening at a later stage.
An official in the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the meeting, originally scheduled to be held in Oman, was postponed at the request of some regional countries, in a decision made jointly by Tehran and Muscat. The official added that Tehran would coordinate with Muscat to determine an appropriate date for holding the meeting.
Tehran attempted to distance itself from responsibility for the cancellation of the meeting. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei stated that the meeting could have represented a step, albeit a small one, toward opening a dialogue between Tehran and the Gulf states, considering that this opportunity has “been lost for the time being.”
A senior Iranian source revealed to Al-Jarida that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian faced fierce criticism from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the hardline faction after he announced that the agreement with Oman would be signed during the Salalah meeting.
Pezeshkian had stated, in an interview on the sidelines of his participation in the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, that Iran is open to the normalization of conditions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Critics argued that Pezeshkian’s statements contradict the policy of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, which aims to raise the level of pressure and tension in the region to its highest point to contribute to increasing oil prices and putting U.S. President Donald Trump under pressure ahead of the midterm elections scheduled for November.
In a separate development, Mohammad Islami, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, was denied entry into Vienna, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech during the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), due to U.S. sanctions imposed on him personally.
While Bloomberg reported, citing a U.S. official, that Austria denied Islami entry into its territory under pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned that the agency has been unable to continuously verify the status of Iran’s declared uranium stockpiles—including uranium enriched to up to 60 percent—at Iranian nuclear facilities damaged by the war for more than a year. He noted that Iran’s opacity constitutes a “serious concern regarding nuclear proliferation” and must be addressed with the utmost urgency.
He stated that “the ball is in Tehran’s court to restore peace to the region and give its citizens a chance,” noting that “the seven-day moving average of secret oil shipments escorted by the U.S. Navy through the Strait of Hormuz is rising and will continue to climb.”
On the ground, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it shot down an MQ-1 drone over Hormuz, while two security sources said rocket attacks targeted three camps belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition groups east of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, with no casualties reported.
