Washington, June 15 (IANS) Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could return to normal within 30 days under a new US-Iran framework agreement, senior US officials said on Monday, outlining plans for toll-free navigation, priority passage for oil and gas tankers, and a US-backed maritime coordination mechanism aimed at restoring one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
The officials said a newly signed memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran provides for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the naval blockade that had disrupted maritime traffic and unsettled global energy markets.
“We’re quite explicit in this MOU. The straits will be open toll-free for 60 days, and we expect that to become part of the final agreement as well,” a senior US official said during a background briefing.
US officials said shipping activity had already begun increasing following the agreement.
“We’re already seeing a substantial increase in traffic,” one official said, adding that commercial movements were expected to accelerate over the coming days.
According to officials, vessel traffic, which had fallen sharply during the crisis, is expected to rebound quickly.
“We’ve been getting as many as 25 ships through a day. Now that we’re through, I think that’ll probably go to maybe 40 to 50, pretty quickly,” a senior official said. “By Friday, everything will be fully open, I think.”
The administration indicated that energy cargoes would be among the first to benefit from the reopening.
“The prioritization will be on the heavy tankers, you know, the gas, the oil. So, I think that will actually flow very quickly,” the official said.
Officials disclosed that Washington had established a maritime coordination system through Bahrain and the US Central Command to facilitate the return of commercial traffic.
“We have a maritime freedom coordination mechanism that we’ve set up in Bahrain through Centcom, and that will help work with all the commercial ships,” a senior official said.
The officials said the reopening would take time because some shipping companies remained cautious after weeks of conflict, mining threats and security concerns. However, they expressed confidence that normal conditions would return relatively quickly.
“I think it will return to normal pretty quickly, definitely within 30 days,” a senior official said.
The senior US official argued that maritime traffic through the strait had continued despite the crisis and that efforts by Washington and its partners had reduced Iran’s leverage over the route.
“Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been getting over 7 million barrels a day out of the strait,” a senior official said, adding that the operation helped convince Iran that it “did not have control” of the waterway.
The official said the blockade had exerted significant economic pressure on Tehran and contributed to the negotiations that resulted in the memorandum of understanding.
US officials said restoring maritime traffic was a key objective of the agreement because of its importance to global trade and energy supplies.
“We’re going to be super aggressive towards getting this open as quickly as possible, because that’s great for the world economy,” a senior official said.
–IANS
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