Iran's foreign minister held separate telephone calls with his Saudi, Omani and Japanese counterparts on Strait of Hormuz security, the foreign ministry in Tehran said on July 28.

Tehran's account describes joint effort against insecurity imposed on the waterway by US action. None of the three counterparts published a matching readout, and their recent stated positions run the other way. Oman has put a proposal to Iran that would end its unilateral control of the strait. Saudi Arabia spent the same day condemning attacks on its territory by Iran-aligned groups. Japan has told Tehran to show maximum flexibility.

Abbas Araghchi spoke to Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the evening of July 27, and to Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on July 28.

The Iranian ministry said the ministers stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and advance joint diplomatic efforts to establish regional stability and eliminate insecurity imposed on the strait by what it called aggressive US actions. No outcomes were disclosed.

Oman has presented Iran with a plan for a joint regional mechanism to manage the strait, Reuters reported on July 28, citing a Gulf source. Vessels would pay voluntary fees covering navigation services, environmental protection and search and rescue, with the waterway administered jointly.

The structure mirrors the arrangement between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in the Strait of Malacca, and is designed to replace the mandatory tolls Tehran has sought to impose.

Riyadh's public diplomacy pointed elsewhere. Prince Faisal held separate calls with the British, Qatari and Kuwaiti foreign ministers in which the parties condemned attacks on Saudi territory by armed groups aligned with Iran in Yemen and Iraq, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The Saudi ministry issued no account of the call with Araghchi.

Motegi pressed Iran to show maximum flexibility in reducing tensions and to make progress on talks with Washington under the memorandum of understanding, according to Iranian media. In a call with Prince Faisal on July 2, Motegi and the Saudi minister agreed on the importance of restoring free and safe navigation without the imposition of additional charges. Japanese readouts through the war have recorded requests for the release of Japanese nationals held in Iran and concern over Japanese-linked vessels detained in the Gulf.

Iranian coverage of the calls also carried allegations that Iraqi armed groups conducted drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, and claims by Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Aboudi that cells working for Ukraine had bombed facilities in Iraq. Ukraine has rejected the allegations as unfounded and unsubstantiated. Al-Aboudi did not identify the facilities, did not say whether the groups had operated outside Iraq, and said the case required further investigation before blame could be assigned.

Iran has controlled the strait since the war began on February 28, with the US imposing a counter-blockade. Houthi forces have attacked Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea over the past week.

Tehran has said it retains control of the waterway and is not seeking talks with Washington.