US - Iran Peace agreement Part 3

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https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/conflict-in-the-middle-east/5535141-us-iran-peace-agreement-part-2https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/conflict-in-the-middle-east/5535141-us-iran-peace-agreement-part-2

Re my above post about the JMCI . I did check through UNCLOS today to see if Oman can "sign over" the administration of it's own coastal waters to another state. But I could not find such a clause. So really, when it comes to Omani territorial sea, it should be the Omani government making the rules, not the US.

Tin foil hat time I suppose, maybe Trump is using his "art of the deal" here. Because his version appears to be all about coercion and protection rackets?

I am happy to admit UNCLOS article 45-2 caught me. But the thing is, I caught myself. I found it because I have UNCLOS in PDF on my laptop, and in my bookmarks. I did say above that my thing is how islands are defined, and how baselines are set. Not freedom of navigation.

But really, with how long this war has been going on, all of us who follow this should know the articles by now. The articles that matter. But instead, we get vague handwaving about international law, with none of them actually quoting the law.

But yeah, according to UNCLOS, it should be Oman making announcements, not Trump.

I'm sure what you meant to type Alan was: So really, when it comes to Omani territorial sea, it should be the Omani government making the rules, not the US or Iran.

Exactly. But Oman have given permission for that route to be used I believe.

They aren't happy about being attacked by Iran. From Al Jazeera:

Iran today attacked not just Qatar but also Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and the UAE.

In the last few hours, Oman has released a statement saying that it has summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest against the attacks.

There has also been a statement from Qatar’s Foreign Ministry calling the attacks on the country a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and also a breach of international law.

It also said Qatar holds Iran legally responsible for the aggression and anything that results as a result of it.

www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/7/12/iran-war-live-irgc-declares-strait-of-hormuz-closed-over-us-interference

Also from Al Jazeera:

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued a statement condemning Iran’s latest attacks.

The organisation said the strikes on Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Jordan are a “flagrant and ongoing violation of the sovereignty of these states”.

“The ongoing attacks and assaults on ships and obstruction of international trade are a clear breach of international law and the United Nations Charter and the Organisation’s Charter,” it added.

The OIC was formed in 1969 and brings together 57 countries with significant Muslim populations across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/7/12/iran-war-live-irgc-declares-strait-of-hormuz-closed-over-us-interference

They can't sign over their rights under UNCLOS (not that I can find). I mentioned above that the whole basis of UNCLOS if that land has dominion over the sea.

The sea has to be "attached" to the land that controls it. And this was done to prevent exactly what the PRC have been doing for the last few decades.

The only exceptions to this are traditional (mostly indigenous) fishing rights. But when UNCLOS has granted traditional fishing rights to a people ( a state), not attached to said sea, the fishing rights are limited to traditional methods, not factory ships.

From memory, an example is Somalian fishers from a certain tribe can fish Yemeni waters, but only with traditional gear. There lots of examples.

The US cannot assert authority over sea not attached to US land.

A bit of background on UNCLOS and the 12 NM territorial sea. It was the Dutch that came up with that. They said the sea should belong to a state for as far as a land based cannon can fire at enemy ships. I think it started at 6 miles, but was extended as time went on. Hence land over sea. You gotta have sovereign land to put your cannons on.

Oman is a sovereign state so why can't they decide for themselves who is allowed to use their territorial waters and who isn't?

Some will read and understand what you are posting about UNCLOS. Not everyone. #Sisyphus

I am far from understanding UNCLOS myself. It is after all one of, if not the most, far reaching and comprehensive treaties that humanity has ever devised and enacted. And it is so good at what it does that most people are not even aware of it. It whirs away in the background, working at what it was devised to do so well, that it is barely even noticed.

And that got me thinking. Because as I was reading the news, it occurred to me that this war is not about UNCLOS. But the US are pushing that it is. But UNCLOS is a peacetime treaty, not a war treaty. Yet the US keep saying UNCLOS this. UNCLOS that.

And I suspect they are doing this because it is one of the few international laws that they can use in this war that they can mention as if it is on their side. But it actually is not. Because UNCLOS is about the coastal states. And if there is a dispute between Iran and Oman over it, it is for them to sort out, with the UN if need be. UNCLOS is clear on that, and in this case, the US is not a coastal state.

And I think that is the same re freedom of passage. That is for the UN to sort out.

The United States signed UNCLOS in 1994 but has not ratified it, so it is not a party to the convention yet the US now claims UNCLOS gives them the right to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz. 🤔
The delicious irony will be totally lost on Trump's WH.
Or maybe Trump is operating on the 'might is right' principle and hoping he can annihilate Iranian opposition...in two weeks.

Nor has Iran ratified it. That the US has not ratified it is something the PRC complains about often. Because the US takes it upon itself to police it, yet refuses to be bound by it. That is why I mentioned UK warships doing freedom of navigation exercises in my post above, and not the US.

It was actually in Hilary Clintons list of things to do if elected. She is fully aware of the discrepancy, and she wanted to fix it.

From the BBC

A state of controlled escalation in the Strait of Hormuz

The battle over control of the Strait of Hormuz has stalled movement towards ending the wider conflict.

Iran pledged to open the strait, according to the terms of its interim deal with Washington, but it has been firing on commercial vessels it says are using an unauthorised route.

The US military says its latest round of strikes has continued to degrade Iran’s ability to attack international shipping. And it insists that traffic is still able to flow through the strait.

The Trump administration needs that to happen to bring oil prices down ahead of midterm elections in November.

Attempts by mediators to resolve the dispute at the weekend failed – and it’s clear how important control of the strait is to Iran: more important than dozens of atomic bombs, senior Iranian officials have said.

It’s believed neither side wants to return to all-out war, but analysts say they are in a state of controlled escalation.

No commercial vessels have crossed the Strait of Hormuz while broadcasting their location since yesterday evening, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic. Other ships may have crossed with their transmitters off.

At the time that the GFS Galaxy was hit, about seven vessels a day transitted with AIS turned off. This is therefore not an unusual occurance, but do insurance companies allow this or does the US offer indemnity? If the latter, how would this work?

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mqjv4cywfs2d

Trump: "The USA will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security ... "

So Trump says the blockade of Iranian ports is back on, and that the US is taken over the SoH.

“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,”

“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,”

The above was posted by Trump on his Truth spcial. He was also talking to Fox news, and he said :

“We hit them very hard last night. Every time they send a drone, we hit them very hard. But we had a deal. What nobody knows, we had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it. We’ve had 10 deals with these people, and so we’re just going to hit them very hard,”

“Now we’re going to guard it, and we’re going to get paid for guarding it,”

Now, when Iran was doing tolls a few months back, the going rate was worked out by evidence obtained as being a dollar per barrel of oil. But Trump is going to charge 20%. So putting aside all the legalities of it, this also presents a massive conflict of interest. The higher the oil price, the higher the charges. So if oil is at $100 a barrel, that is $20 for the US.

So there is no incentive to have the SoH flowing at pre war levels ?

This is basically the same as Israel invading Gaza and Lebanon

They are thief’s and land / sea grabbing for financial gain

Haven't seen a responce from the world on This yet.
Will any country call the US out or sit back and do nothing as per

Well, if it happens this is 25% of the worlds oil gone up by 20%. And fertiliser, food and goods for the Gulf states.

So for the likes of Kuwait and Qatar, that is practically everything up by 20%.

Rubio did say last week that no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway.

Awkward

Not awkward
They never include themselves
🤣🤣

From CNN

"On June 24, Trump himself said that that any kind of fee on shipping transiting the strait would be “unacceptable.”

But this is not a toll or a fee. It's protection money.

Maffia esque

He's all over the place.

But got the idea of protection money/insurance from the IRGC I guess.

Wondering if this is a sinister ploy to get Iran to bomb ships from random countries and get support against them
Or
Am i overthinking Trumps ability to forward plan 🤣

Meanwhile im looking at marine traffic and, like this morning, there are ships moving through in Iranian waters. Nothing visible on the Oman side

Overthinking I think. SCOTUS ruled most of his tariffs are not allowed under the constitution, and now he is going to be claiming 20% of the value of 25% of the worlds oil. That's 20 million barrels per day. If oil is $80 per barrel, I get that as $320 million per day, $116 trillion per year ?

Is that right ?

£116.8 trillion if we’re splitting hairs