Iran FM travels to Oman for talks on Strait of Hormuz

TEHRAN, July 10 (AFP): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Oman on Saturday for talks on the Strait of Hormuz, state media said.
The visit "will be focused on the Strait of Hormuz and shipping safety" and is "a continuation of the consultations that we started with Oman over the past one or two months," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
The strait is a major source of contention between Washington and Tehran, which effectively closed the strategic waterway in response to the war launched by the United States and Israel in late February.
The conflict was subsequently halted by a ceasefire agreement on April 8, but there have been sporadic outbursts of violence ever since, most sparked by disagreements over the strait.
Tehran insists it must control the waterway, a conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas, and has expressed a desire to charge fees for ships that transit it.
It did not have such powers before the war, and while the strait comprises Omani and Iranian territorial waters, under international law the two cannot generally block passage or charge tolls.
US President Donald Trump said Friday he had agreed to further negotiations with Iran, even as he repeated his assertion that the ceasefire between the long-time foes was over.
While there have been no direct talks between Iran and the United States since last month, Iranian media reported that a delegation from mediator Qatar was in Tehran after the warring sides exchanged strikes again this week.
Just over three weeks after Washington and Tehran signed an agreement aimed at turning a months-long ceasefire into a durable peace, the exchange of fire for two days this week threatened a return to full-scale regional war.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
Earlier this week, at a NATO summit, Trump also declared the ceasefire over, saying of Tehran: "It's just a waste of time dealing with them."
US and Iranian delegations have held one round of direct talks in Switzerland since the signature of their memorandum of understanding, as well as indirect negotiations in Qatar, but there has been no sign of diplomatic progress since.
Doha in a call with Cairo on Friday backed continued diplomacy, despite Iran saying it had launched attacks on US assets in Qatar, and the Gulf state accusing Tehran of attacking one of its tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Tasnim agency said the Qatari delegation was in Tehran to "try to reinforce Qatar's role as a mediator following events on Tuesday", when Doha condemned Tehran for what it called an "unacceptable assault" on one of its LNG tankers. Iran denied the accusation.
US President Donald Trump has mistakenly said the "Islamic Republic of Japan" fired 111 missiles at an American aircraft carrier, misidentifying Iran in remarks that do not match official US military accounts.
Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on Jul 8, Trump described the USS Abraham Lincoln as "one of the most beautiful" and "one of the biggest" carriers, USA Today reports.
"A few months ago... we had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan," he said, adding that the missiles were fired at the carrier over about an hour and all were intercepted.