Iran-U.S. Updates: Oil prices return to near pre-war levels as Oman says no Strait of Hormuz "transit fees"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's final stop in the Gulf region Thursday came at a meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which released a lengthy joint statement with the U.S. agreeing on all points with the American objectives in Iran.

"The Ministers welcomed the June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing between the United States and Iran and recognized the important mediation roles played by Pakistan and Qatar," the statement said. "They stressed the need to maintain momentum and unity as negotiations proceed toward a more permanent end to hostilities and the shared objective of preventing Iran from ever developing or otherwise acquiring a nuclear weapon."

The six members of the GCC include Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

"The Ministers further emphasized that lasting regional peace and security requires addressing the full spectrum of Iran's threats, including its ballistic missiles, drones, and support of proxies in the region," according to the joint statement.

The statement also included comments on tolls being charged in the Strait of Hormuz, a plan Iran has not ruled out following the cessation of the current 60-day pause. Oman, as Rubio earlier said, dismissed charging vessels passing through the strait between the two countries.

"The Ministers also emphasized the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, noting that free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation, including the right of transit passage as guaranteed under international law, remains essential to regional and global security," the statement said. 

The foreign ministers for Oman and Iran spoke by phone on Thursday night about "freedom of navigation" in the Strait of Hormuz, a key point in the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, according to a readout from Oman's foreign ministry. 

Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi "reached an understanding on a mechanism for joint cooperation aimed at achieving the objectives of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding regarding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz."

The absence of tolls has been a key point of contention between the U.S. and Iran during negotiations. Oman had said earlier in the day it did not plan to impose any fees, though Iran has been more noncommittal in recent days, saying they could enforce fees after the current 60-day pause.

Araghchi issued a statement after Oman's foreign ministry, saying, "We re-emphasized that Iran and Oman will conduct dialogue 'to define future administration and maritime services in Strait of Hormuz.' We're determined and will do so in discussion with our neighbors." 

A cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an "unknown projectile" on Thursday evening near the Oman coast, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations.

The vessel suffered damage to its bridge, but said no one was injured, according to the UKMTO, which receives reports of suspicious activity from all vessels in the Gulf region.

The strike took place at 5:40 p.m. local time (10:10 a.m. ET).

It was not yet clear which ship had reported being struck, or any details on the "projectile."

The death toll from Israeli military action in Lebanon has grown to 4,230 since March 2, an increase of 19 people from yesterday's update, according to the Lebanon Ministry of Public Health.

The number of injured grew by six people, to 12,179 total, according to the ministry of health.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that members of U.S. Central Command are now sitting with both Israeli military command and Lebanese military command to monitor attacks by Israel on alleged Hezbollah threats.

"Any time an incident happens, we're not taking anybody else's word for it," Rubio said. "We can see the incident, and we can quantify what actually happened." 

"So, as an example, yesterday, two individuals in some sort of vehicle, armed, clearly Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, approached an Israeli checkpoint. And the Israelis [took] action," Rubio continued. "A week ago, If that had happened, you would just have a news report that two people in Lebanon have been killed by the Israelis. Now we have fidelity that we actually know, not because they told us, but because we saw it."

An Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon killed three people Thursday, Lebanese state media reported, the latest of such localized incidents to test a ceasefire between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

"Three people were killed and one person was wounded when an enemy drone targeted a ... vehicle on the road between Zawtar and Mayfadoun," Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said.

It was the third deadly incident since Tuesday, bringing the number of people killed in Israeli attacks this week to seven. The strike comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials meet in Washington for a fifth round of direct negotiations.

Israel has said the previous strikes this week targeted Hezbollah members that posed a threat to its forces operating in southern Lebanon. 

Three tankers that had been on track to leave the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to turn back Thursday, while three others appeared to divert, as Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a warning against using routes through the waterway not approved by Tehran.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic.com showed three oil tankers heading toward the strait on a southern route that hugs the coast of Oman turn back in the other direction. Three other ships that had also been on the southern route appeared to divert to the north, toward the route designated by Tehran that skirts the Iranian coast.

The IRGC insisted Thursday that all ships should only use the northern route, and in coordination with Iranian authorities. 

Maritime intelligence firm Lloyd's List said earlier, however, that many ships have started using the Omani route in recent days.

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, speaking Thursday after meeting with fellow top diplomats from Persian Gulf nations and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said "future arrangements concerning the Strait of Hormuz will not involve imposing any transit fees."

Al Busaidi "reiterated Oman's support for the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and stressed the importance of ensuring the success of its objectives in pursuit of the desired peace," the Omani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"He also stressed the importance of restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring its safe and uninterrupted flow. He noted that Oman, as a littoral state of the strait, bears a special responsibility in supporting international efforts to secure maritime navigation in accordance with its responsibilities and obligations under international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," the statement said. 

Iran and Oman have said they are creating a new joint mechanism to regulate traffic through the strait - a vital waterway for global energy supplies that was always free and open before the U.S. and Israel launched their joint war on Iran almost four months ago. 

In a previous joint statement, the two countries, which have coastlines in the strait, said the new system could have "costs associated," and Iran has long said it could impose "fees" on commercial vessels to transit the waterway, something the Trump administration has rejected.

"International waterways do not belong to any nation state," Rubio said earlier in the day at the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain, where Al Busaidi also gave his remarks. "If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion."

Chevron's Chief Financial Officer Eimear Bonner told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Europe show on Thursday that "it's going to take time" for the prices Americans pay at the pump to fall, even as global oil prices drop sharply with tankers starting to move in greater numbers through the Strait of Hormuz.

"I mean there is a lag between oil prices and reduction in oil prices and when that shows up at the pump," Bonner said.

Mr. Trump has criticized big energy firms and accused them of "gouging" American drivers by not cutting their prices, telling White House reporters Wednesday that he had ordered an investigation into the matter as "gasoline prices should be much lower at the pump." 

The president singled out Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP by name.

70 ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, a 105% increase of traffic day on day, according to maritime business intelligence firm Kpler.

In a social media statement, the firm said ships were increasingly using a southern route through the strait that hugs Oman's coastline, as opposed to one that brings them close to Iran's coast in the north of the waterway.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps insisted Thursday that the only authorized route through the waterway is the one designated by Tehran, and it advised ships against using other routes.

Tanker movement has "risen sharply" in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, which are linked by the Strait of Hormuz, since the U.S.-Iran deal was agreed last week, according to a maritime intelligence organization

"There's been a material shift this week as tanker movements in the Middle Eastern Gulf have risen sharply since Iran and the U.S. agreed to reopen the strait," Richard Mead, the Editor-in-Chief of Lloyd's List said Thursday.

However, Mead said shipping firms were operating in a "limbo period" because it remains unclear what the circumstances in the Strait of Hormuz will be after the U.S.-Iran negotiations conclude, which is expected in less than two months under the memorandum of understanding signed by both nations.

"We don't know what normal is going to look like yet," Mead said

Iran and Oman have said they're creating a new joint mechanism to control maritime traffic through the strait, as its coastal states, which could have "costs associated." The Trump administration has said repeatedly that Iran will not be permitted under a final peace deal to charge ships fees or tolls, however.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Thursday that allowing Iranian tolls on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz would create a precedent to other waterways, risking "total chaos."

"International waterways do not belong to any nation state. This is a foundational principle in the world today, without which the world would be in total chaos," he told a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain.

"If in fact we accepted that you can charge money to use an international waterway because it happens to be near your territorial space, well then this will spread throughout the world like a contagion."

Rubio, on his first regional tour since the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the Middle East war, said the US wants a peace deal but not "at any price".

"While we want a deal, we don't want a deal at any price," he said. "We want a deal that's good, we want a deal that's real, we want a deal that's verifiable, and we want a deal that's adhered to."

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $73.87 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the roughly $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began.

U.S. crude prices fell 3.9% to $70.34 a barrel. Early Thursday, Brent was down 1.3% at $72.90, while U.S. benchmark crude lost 1.4% to $69.37.

The drop in prices comes as shipping across the Strait of Hormuz slowly resumed last week under the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Bahrain Thursday after promising Gulf allies that Washington would protect their interests as it seeks to hammer out a final settlement to end the war with Iran.

During a visit to Kuwait City, Rubio said Washington would be on the same page as Gulf states as it wrangles with Iran over a permanent settlement to the conflict.

"We're going to be completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf," he said, adding that the United States would "engage them on conversations about every decision that's made with regards to this negotiation."

Rubio is due to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain on Thursday after sitting down with the leaders of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

The initial US-Iran deal, which sets out a 60-day negotiating process aimed at reaching a long-term agreement, did not to address Gulf nations' long-standing concerns about Iran's missile program.

But Rubio insisted Washington was "not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies".

The Senate late Wednesday rejected a measure aimed at restricting President Trump's power to wage war against Iran, in a victory for the president and Senate GOP leadership as they seek to quell congressional discontent with the Trump administration's Iran strategy.

The procedural motion failed in a 50 to 47 vote, with two Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — voting in favor of advancing the resolution by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, siding with most Democrats. Republican Sen. Rand Paul voted present, and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman voted no.

Just one day earlier, four Republicans voted yes on a separate House-passed resolution to restrict Mr. Trump's war powers, allowing it to narrowly pass. Those same four GOP lawmakers had voted to advance the Kaine resolution in an earlier procedural vote last month — the first time an Iran war powers resolution had moved forward in the Senate after seven failed attempts.

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The Israeli military said Thursday that a soldier was killed the previous day in southern Lebanon, where clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah have been reported despite a ceasefire.

Master Sergeant Basil Sweid, 32, a driver, "fell during operational activity," the military said.

A spokesman told AFP he was killed when his vehicle overturned.

The military says 37 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon since fighting with Hezbollah erupted in early March.