Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper, in response to Kazem Gharibabadi’s remarks, the legal and international affairs deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about an agreement with Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, wrote in a note that opening this waterway is “opening a passage” and “opening a street for the enemy to escape,” and that it eliminates one of the most important levers of the Islamic Republic.

He added that there is a contradiction among different parts of Gharibabadi’s statements and asked how it can be said that an agreement with Oman does not mean opening the Strait of Hormuz, while at the same time speaking about the passage of a substantial portion of the routes used for the entry and exit of ships from Iran’s territorial waters.

Referring to Gharibabadi’s remarks about ships passing through Iran’s territorial waters, Shariatmadari asked: “Is the passage of ships not tantamount to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz? Why should the Islamic Republic lose one of its main and most effective tools for confronting the United States and its allies?”