Aus Oman ein Blick vom Wasser auf die umkämpfte Straße von Hormus

Submission Statement:

An interesting view of life in the exclave where Oman may be assisting Iran with controlling the future toll of the Strait of Hormuz

NON PAYWALLED TEXT

KHASAB, Oman — Crossing the border into Oman from the United Arab Emirates, jagged limestone cliffs give way to turquoise waters stretching into the distance. The shores of Iran are 45 minutes away by speedboat; the Strait of Hormuz even closer.

Get concise answers to your questions. Try Ask The Post AI.
A small boat churning up a white wake was the only sign of activity on a recent morning, cutting across otherwise eerily quiet water. The boat, locals explained, was likely carrying goats and fresh produce to Omani shores from Iran.

This area has captured the world’s attention for more than a month, with the strait — a vital passageway for the world’s oil supply — now emblematic of the steep costs of the U.S.-Israeli war as Iran’s retaliatory strikes leave the waterway all but impassable.

The approaching boat — one of many that locals said ferry daily between the two nations — was an example of how local trade continues in this deeply interconnected region and how quiet fishing towns like Khasab now find themselves on the front lines of war.

“We are like cousins,” Shaima Ahmed, 32, said of Iranians and Omanis. “Now everyone is afraid, and afraid to speak. We don’t want to create problems, and we know Khasab is in the middle.”

This sleepy town, with a population of about 21,000, is built on fishing and tourism. Known in part for its isolation, Khasab is an exclave, separated from the rest of Oman and surrounded on land by the UAE.

When trade was cut by half during the coronavirus pandemic, Ahmed said Iran was the first nation to send much-needed food. Ties between Khasab and Iran — which are about 24 miles apart — abound, she said, with Iranians setting up businesses in Khasab and Iranian women often marrying the town’s fishermen.

Now, Khasab’s residents listen most days to distant booms as the United States and Israel pummel Iran with bombs. Most people here are frustrated with the U.S. for launching the war, Ahmed said, and fearful of what’s next.

“We never imagined this would happen,” said Ali Mohammed Sulaiman, 40, a boat captain who said his best catches — including tuna, squid and barracuda — all used to come from the Strait of Hormuz and the waters closest to Iran. “Before, we could go anywhere.”

Since the war started, Sulaiman said, the strait has been off-limits to fishermen, who are fined by Omani military when they get too close. He is from the village of Kumzar, located directly on the Strait of Hormuz and accessible only by helicopter or an hour boat ride. Kumzar is so connected with Iran that many of the words in its language, Kumzari, are Persian.

“We don’t know what will happen,” Sulaiman said, adding that he fears a ground invasion. “And we can only hope for peace.”

President Donald Trump has signaled that he is preparing to wind down the war but has also indicated that it could escalate first, saying in a speech Wednesday night that the military would “hit them extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks and threatening to take Iran “back to the stone ages.” The Strait of Hormuz remains a flash point, with Tehran insisting on full control over it as one demand for ending the war.

A U.K.-led coalition of more than 40 countries met on Thursday to discuss efforts to secure safe passage for vessels, but how they will gain control of the waterway remains unclear. The narrow geography and proximity to Iran would make such a mission complicated and dangerous.

Oman, which mediated the last round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran before the U.S. and Israel attacked, has tried to remain neutral. Even after Iran bombed Oman’s main port, Oman’s foreign minister described Iranian retaliation as an “inevitable” result of the U.S.-Israeli aggression.

Omani police told a Washington Post journalist visiting Khasab that writing was permitted but photography was not. A boat ride to the Strait of Hormuz was forbidden, they said, adding that they were worried about angering Iran or the U.S. and that Oman found itself in a tricky spot.

Most Read
Next
U.S. rescues missing airman from Iranian mountains after fighter jet was shot down
U.S. rescues missing airman from Iranian mountains after fighter jet was sh…
April 5, 2026
Trump threatens Iran with ‘Hell’ over Strait of Hormuz in profane post
Trump threatens Iran with ‘Hell’ over Strait of Hormuz in profane post
April 5, 2026
We may have less control over how long we live than previously thought
We may have less control over how long we live than previously thought
April 5, 2026
Surprising links between autism, Alzheimer’s could change how we treat both
Surprising links between autism, Alzheimer’s could change how we treat both
April 5, 2026
What the looming sale of CNN means for Trump’s feud with the network
What the looming sale of CNN means for Trump’s feud with the network
April 5, 2026
On Easter, Pope Leo delivers commanding message of peace to a world at war
On Easter, Pope Leo delivers commanding message of peace to a world at war
April 5, 2026
Column
R. Eric Thomas
Asking Eric: Brother-in-law’s wedding requires nephews be left with stranger
Asking Eric: Brother-in-law’s wedding requires nephews be left with strange…
April 6, 2026
Meet Washington’s most powerful and mysterious restaurant family
Meet Washington’s most powerful and mysterious restaurant family
April 5, 2026
Column
Carolyn Hax
Carolyn Hax: Mom pushes for introverted daughter-in-law to join weekly calls
Carolyn Hax: Mom pushes for introverted daughter-in-law to join weekly call…
April 6, 2026
How a twangy country ballad captivated the nation
How a twangy country ballad captivated the nation
April 4, 2026
At an empty restaurant in the town’s center, a waiter, Shehan Majeed, 26, said he spends his days refreshing the news on his phone, wondering each time, “What is today’s problem?” Majeed said he still cannot believe that everyone around the world is talking about this area.

“It is a small place, a good place, a place where we have had no problems,” he said.

This was an area known for its safety and its beauty, said Bashahir Mohammed, 37, whose family runs one of about 30 tourism companies in the area. His company sees an average of 600 customers in a typical month, he said. But for all of March, there had been closer to 30 — most of them visitors from the UAE coming for Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan.

“Most people here are not afraid of dying,” said Mohammed, “but afraid of what life will be like in the future.”

At first, Mohammed — whose family, like many here, is from India — assumed that the war would end in two days. As it passed the one-month mark, he said he could see that public frustration with the situation was growing and he warned a visitor that much of that ire focused on the U.S.

No one, he said, could understand Trump’s reasoning for continuing the war.

As a large wooden dhow adorned with red carpets and cushions for tourists to sit on sped through clear water on a recent day, captain Ismail Hossain, 32, pointed into the distance. About two kilometers away, he explained, was the notorious Strait of Hormuz.

That zone was heavily militarized and off-limits, he said. The boats still speeding through the Persian Gulf — a few more than earlier in the morning — were the ones transporting goats from Iran, said Hossain, who is from Bangladesh and has lived in Khasab for eight years.

As the dhow turned away from the strait and into the craggy inlets, Hossain clamored on top, clapped his hands and whistled. A pod of dolphins appeared, playfully jumping out of the water. He beamed.

“This is the perfect month for tourists,” he said, looking up at a mostly cloudless blue sky. “Not too hot. Not too cold. Perfect sunrises, and perfect sunsets.”

But since the day the war started, he said, there had been virtually no one and no business.

The war felt far away as his co-captain, Issa, who was from Kumzar, blasted a musical medley ranging from Rihanna’s “Umbrella” to Celine Dion’s “I’m Alive” from the dhow’s speakers.

Issa said that his village had always been close with Iran, that the Kumzari language so closely mirrored Farsi that he could understand most of it. The war, he said, changed “everything.”

“Oman is a good country, a peaceful country,” he said. “We just want to stay out of this.”