New Delhi, July 2 -- MUSCAT - The corridor hugging Oman's southern coastline was the route that wasn't supposed to get hit. The International Maritime Organization and Oman had established it as an alternative to the mined central channel - away from Iranian waters, away from the IRGC's northern passage - and the premise was that distance would mean safety. On June 25, Iran launched a suicide drone into a cargo vessel moving through it, 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's burial on July 9 is the earliest the diplomatic track can reconvene.

Iran's IRGC had issued a warning against using the Oman corridor hours before the June 25 attack, Al Jazeera reported. That warning was not a surprise maneuver - it was con...