Initial Agreements on Launching Qeshm-Khasab Port of Oman Passenger Ships Reached

Qeshm Free Zone deputy economic and investments affairs caretaker said that initial agreements on launching a passenger and commercial shipping line between Qeshm Island and Oman's Khasab Port are reached. Mokhtar Garshasbi said on Sunday that after a visit of a delegation from Oman's Musandam Governorate to Qeshm Island and holding several rounds of economic talks, the initial agreements for broader bilateral cooperation were reached. "After the Omani delegation's visit of Qeshm Island's Bahman Port and the existing capacities and facilities in it, we had good negotiations about launching a passenger and commercial shipping line between Qeshm Island and Oman's Khasab Port, and since both sides are agreed, the important MOU for implementing the decision will be sighed in near future. Garshasbi said that declaring readiness for launching a direct air route between Qeshm and Musandam Governorate's under-construction airport after its completion and being put to use, too, was another topic of those negotiations. The Musandam Governorate is a mountainous Omani peninsula projecting into the Strait of Hormuz, separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates. Its jagged coastline features fjord-like inlets called khors, and its waters are home to dolphins and other marine life. Dhow cruises are a popular activity. In Khasab, the capital, the 17th-century Khasab Fort houses museum displays. Qeshm is an arrow-shaped Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, separated from the mainland by the Clarence Strait/Khuran in the Persian Gulf. It is the largest island in Iran, and the largest in the Persian Gulf. - IRNA