Iran said it was nearing an agreement with Oman on managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, but warned that such a deal alone would not be sufficient to reopen the vital waterway. The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, accused Iran of striking another vessel in the strait.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington expected Iran and Oman — which face each other across the waterway — to reach an agreement soon, allowing ordinary oil shipments to resume.
The two countries’ understanding over the strategic passage is regarded as a key element of any broader deal aimed at ending the conflict that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 February.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran and Muscat were “very close” to an agreement on a new route for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. But he said reopening the strait would depend on additional conditions, including compensation from the United States.
Iran has retaliated against the US strikes by attacking American bases in Gulf states and Jordan, as well as vessels traveling through the narrow passage. Before the war, the strait carried roughly a fifth of global oil and gas shipments.
The UAE said Iran had fired a missile at a carrier linked to its state oil company while the vessel was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. No injuries were reported in the latest escalation affecting shipping in the area.
Iranian authorities did not immediately comment. Iranian media carried the UAE’s account but omitted its allegation that Iran was responsible for the attack.
US to lift Iran blockade once deal is announced, official says
The Trump administration has repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that an agreement to reopen the strait was imminent, only for Tehran to deny that negotiations were taking place.
Whether the latest round of diplomatic activity would produce a durable arrangement remained uncertain.
“There is progress between Oman and Iran on the strait, and we expect a deal soon,” the US official said.
“Once the deal is announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, the United States will lift the blockade of Iranian ports.”
“As always, US actions will continue to be performance-based and tied to Iran’s implementation of its commitments,” the official said.
A man walks in front of a wall mural in Tehran as daily life continues amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the strait’s reopening would instead depend on Washington accepting Iran’s demands and was separate from the negotiations with Oman.
Guards spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi did not detail those demands, but said the United States had to stop interfering in regional diplomatic efforts.
“Whenever the United States accepts Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will certainly be reopened,” he said, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Deal would give Iran some control
A proposed agreement involving Iran and Oman to help end five months of fighting between Iran and the United States would give Tehran authority over ships entering the Gulf through the strait, according to a senior Iranian source and two regional officials who spoke on Wednesday. The provision would represent one of the most significant concessions yet offered to Iran.
US officials have repeatedly said they would not accept Iran controlling access to the world’s most important energy trade route.
It was not immediately clear whether American officials had sought to revise the proposed arrangement.
Iran has cited the conflict as justification for imposing tolls on oil tankers.
The tolls, combined with attacks on ships attempting to pass without Iranian permission, have severely interrupted international deliveries, driving up energy costs and adding to inflationary pressures.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, one of the world’s largest energy producers, said yesterday that 15 of its vessels had been hit in what it described as unprovoked attacks while crossing the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began.
The incidents have left one crew member dead and 20 others injured, the company said.
Iranian media frequently report attacks on vessels that allegedly breached Iranian directives, without explicitly saying that Iranian forces carried them out.
Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz have coincided with a rise in assaults by its Yemen-based allies, the Houthis. The group has targeted vessels near another critical oil chokepoint on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
