Iran's Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has a message for anyone hoping the Strait of Hormuz goes back to normal: it won't. The strategic waterway will "never return" to its pre-war status, he warned, and in his telling, Tehran and Oman, not international maritime regulators, should be the ones calling the shots there.

Iran Pushes Back on the Rules of the Sea

In an Al Jazeera interview published on Wednesday, Ghalibaf said both countries had reached an understanding on overseeing shipping through the strait as part of Iran's seven conditions for ending the US-Israel war.

"There are no 'free waters' [international waters] there," Ghalibaf declared, arguing that the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not apply to the strait.

He maintained that maritime regulations fall under Iranian and Omani laws, reinforcing his earlier warnings that Washington cannot pressure Tehran without consequences.

There's just one wrinkle: Article 38 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea recognizes the right of transit passage through international straits, while Article 44 prohibits bordering states from hampering such passage. Iran has signed but not ratified the convention, and the US maintains that these navigation rights reflect customary international law. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Seven Conditions and a Game of Diplomatic Tennis

Ghalibaf said Iran submitted its demands through Qatari mediation and is waiting on Washington's answer. "The ball is now in the American court," he declared.

The conditions include lifting American sanctions and the naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and formally ending hostilities across the region.

Tehran previously refused to reopen Hormuz without guarantees under the June Islamabad agreement.

"What stands in the way of an agreement is our lack of trust in the United States," Ghalibaf added, warning President Donald Trump against renewed attacks.

Shipping Attacks Keep the Peace Deal Fragile

Trust, it turns out, is hard to build while the shooting continues. Reuters reported Wednesday that Iran attacked navigation infrastructure on Oman's Didamar island, a reminder that maritime risks remain very much alive despite the diplomatic back-and-forth.

The conflict has disrupted global oil shipments, with Reuters reporting 37 vessel attacks in October.

And the stakes are enormous. The US Energy Information Administration reported in March that approximately 20.9 million barrels of oil passed through Hormuz daily during the first half of 2025, underscoring just how much of the global energy market flows through a narrow stretch of water that Iran now says it wants to run on its own terms.