Today’s Muscat meeting of the Iran-Oman Joint Hormuz Committee, led by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, is extremely worrisome. This gathering marks the formal initiation of a bilateral control over the Strait of Hormuz. The sides discussed operations, future administration, navigation services, and passage costs. Tehran wants to turn an international waterway into a revenue source and political lever. Muscat gives that ambition sovereign legitimacy.

The Islamabad agreement between Washington and Tehran calls for toll-free, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and talks about its future administration. Iran has answered by advancing its arrangement with Oman while maintaining selective strikes and maritime pressure. The agreement has changed none of the regime’s habits: create danger, then charge the world for relief from it.

Under normal circumstances, Hormuz carries about 21 million barrels of oil daily, roughly one-fifth of global petroleum-liquids consumption and a quarter of seaborne oil trade. Qatar’s immense liquefied-natural-gas exports pass through the same........

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