TEHRAN, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday negotiations between Iran and Oman are focused on reaching an agreement on designating a "temporary" route to ensure safe shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The negotiations have been focused on the idea that the southern route, which passes through Oman's waters, and the northern route, which passes through Iran's territorial waters, would turn into an intermediate route," Baghaei said at a weekly press conference in Tehran.
He said the talks are centered on a round-trip corridor, not two or three separate routes, and the intermediate route will be used temporarily until a permanent one is finalized.
The waterway's closure stems not from differences between Iran and Oman, but from U.S.-Israeli "military aggression" against Iran, Baghaei said, adding the strait's status will stay unchanged as long as Washington continues its "malicious" actions against the country.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the negotiations between Iran and Oman are in their final stages, according to the official news agency IRNA.
Baghaei also said at the press conference the country will take every necessary action to hold Ukraine to account for its recent attack on an Iranian vessel.
On July 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country's forces had hit a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.
Iran tightened its grip on the strait on Feb. 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.
During the past days, the U.S. military launched multiple waves of strikes against Iranian targets, saying they were in response to Iranian attacks on vessels in the strait and aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping."
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. military bases and facilities in the region.■
