Dubai: Iran on Thursday claimed its drafting a proposal with Oman to ‘monitor’ Strait of Hormuz. The comments by Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency, described the proposal as “intended to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships passing through this route.”Iran’s attacks on shipping in the region, as well as reportedly demanding as much as USD 2 million for passage through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, have created a stranglehold on the route.It is unclear what the proposal would mean. Oman did not immediately acknowledge it. The strait runs through Iranian and Omani territorial waters but is considered an international waterway that should freely allow ships to pass.“Naturally, when we face an act of aggression, navigation encounters serious problems, and this is the result of the aggressive act,” Gharibabadi said. “We are currently at war and cannot expect pre-war rules to govern wartime conditions.”Nearly three dozen nations talk about securing Strait of HormuzApril 3, 2026 8:24 amIranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94 per cent over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.No sign of war winding down in Middle EastApril 3, 2026 8:24 amThere was little sign Friday of the war in the Middle East winding down as Israel said it faced incoming fire from Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain reported being under attack, and Iran said eight people were killed while celebrating the close of Persian new year near a major bridge hit by a US strike. Iran decried the strike on the bridge, which also injured 95 people celebrating Nature Day, when Iranians gather for picnics and other celebrations outdoors on the last day of Nowruz, the Persian new year. “Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote Thursday in a post on X.