Bahrain says it will not participate in Iran’s proposed Hormuz meeting 

Bahrain says it will not be participating in a proposed meeting in Oman between Iran and other regional countries to discuss safe passage for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has effectively blockaded the shipping channel throughout the war, stopping Gulf oil and gas exports worldwide, but Iran’s foreign ministry said a meeting is planned on Monday in Muscat for “consultations” on the strait’s future.

“In light of what has been circulated … the Kingdom of Bahrain will not participate in it,” Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Pointing to attacks on infrastructure across the Gulf, Bahrain said that security and stability in the region “cannot be preserved through a policy of appeasement” and called for Hormuz to be open without “discrimination, fees or permits”.

Tehran has been pushing to formalise its control over the waterway, including potentially charging fees for passage, and has been in negotiations with Muscat, as Oman’s territorial waters also cover Hormuz.

The strait was free to use by shipping from all nations before the US and Israel attacked Iran late in February, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said it maintains its commitment to dialogue, but “will not be a party to any collective meeting that includes Iran before the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries”.

Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 alongside Saudi Arabia during an earlier crisis between the regional rivals. While Riyadh restored ties in 2023, Manama is yet to do so.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the meeting is “a sign of Iran’s good intention because we have said all along that the security of the region must be guaranteed by the countries of the region, without intervention by the foreigners, without intervention by the outside powers”.

“This is a sign we will talk to our neighbours, despite the fact that their territories, their military bases or the military bases of the United States, were used to attack Iran,” he said.

Baghaei added that Tehran would “brief the delegations about the results of the Iran and Oman consultations regarding the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz”.

Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed senior Iranian official saying that the meeting in Oman ⁠⁠⁠⁠will be ⁠⁠⁠⁠a chance to discuss issues, but it is not expected to yield a signed agreement ⁠⁠⁠⁠over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that an ⁠⁠⁠⁠understanding ⁠⁠⁠⁠between Iran and Oman would not provide ⁠⁠⁠⁠for the immediate reopening ⁠⁠⁠⁠of the strait but only establish the basis ‌‌‌‌on which it could reopen.