Iran has declared that the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway carrying roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, which has been blockaded for ten weeks following a US-Israeli strike on Iran in February — falls exclusively within Iranian and Omani territorial waters, and that Tehran is coordinating with Muscat on its future management, including plans to charge commercial vessels a fee of approximately one dollar per barrel. The announcement has placed Oman in an awkward position: the US insists Oman shares its opposition to any toll arrangement, while Iran publicly implicates the Gulf sultanate as a partner in the scheme, and Muscat has remained conspicuously silent. Western diplomats argue that Iran's proposals, including mandatory ship registration with a newly created Iranian authority and payment in rials — potentially channelling funds to the sanctioned Revolutionary Guards — are unlawful, and France and the UK are preparing a rival freedom-of-navigation framework that has the backing of most Gulf states.