WASHINGTON — Oman has quietly rejected Iran’s request to jointly charge service fees on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, The Post has learned — averting a clash with President Trump, who has threatened to rain down bombs on the US ally.
A high-ranking regional official said that Muscat declined to consent to charging fees — even on a voluntary basis — for environmental and security services, contrary to a statement last week from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The terms of a proposed revenue-sharing deal had not been finalized, even by Tehran, a US official told The Post last week — indicating the IRGC jumped the gun.
Trump twice threatened to bomb Oman if it agrees to de facto tolling of the waterway, saying on Aug. 17: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s–t out of them.”
Trump’s reimposed naval blockade of Iran would render any toll-charging deal moot without US consent.
Although it considers itself an American ally, Oman has acted as a mediator in the region — including attempting to avert the current war by convening US-Iran nuclear talks, after a prior role arbitrating the release of Americans held by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.
Oman brokered the May 2025 cease-fire between the US and the Houthis, who govern the north of Yemen. That deal remains in effect.
Iran has attempted to pressure Oman, which borders the strait’s southern coast, into agreeing to a post-war framework that would give Tehran enhanced authority over the international oil and gas bottleneck.
Last Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi met in Tehran and discussed the waterway.
Hours later, IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi told the state-run Sepah News agency: “Agreements have been reached regarding each country’s share of the strait’s waters as well as Iran and Oman’s share of its revenue.”
Oman is now balking at the Iranian proposal, according to sources familiar with the talks, in deference to broader peace efforts. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates and its banking hubs used by Iran-linked figures are emerging as a renewed focus in Washington.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday announced actions to cut off transactions with Banque Misr UAE and sanction the manager of Bank Melli’s Dubai branch for allegedly doing business with Iran — after sanctioning 154 other UAE-based entities over the past year.
More targeting of UAE-based institutions is expected as part of Bessent’s “Operation Economic Outcast,” which aims to force Iran to negotiate a peace deal through inflicting economic pain.
“The UAE needs to step up here,” a Republican source told The Post. “They are playing both sides, asking [Trump] to keep going to war, while at the same time paying the Iranians billions.”
