UN-backed plan to free ships trapped in strait of Hormuz rejected by Iran

Iran has rejected UN-backed plans for the mass evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz , creating a new threat to the free passage of commercial ships through the strait. The proposal, backed by Oman , was potentially the first phase of a broader Omani proposal to consult on setting up a new management of the strait based on voluntary fees and modelled on the Malacca and Singapore strait mechanism. The intervention showed that Oman and Iran’s visions for the strait may differ, although they were consulting each other to try to align their plans. Iran’s intervention also damaged efforts led by Saudi Arabia to convene a conference to normalise relations between the Gulf States and Iran in a new proposed non-aggression pact. Shipping through the strait had been steadily increasing since a Memorandum of Understanding was signed last week by Iran and the US. As part of the deal, Tehran agreed that it would make its best efforts to ensure full freedom of navigation was restored to the strait and no fees or tolls would be imposed for a minimum of 60 days. But the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Thursday rejected the coordinates of two new temporary shipping evacuation lanes announced by the UN’s International Maritime Organisation in conjunction with Oman. A pre-existing transit separation scheme (TSS) route remains impassable due to mines. …