Tankers Leave Strait of Hormuz as Trump Cites Progress on Iran Deal

Hope of a near-term breakthrough in the US-Israeli conflict with Iran grew after two Chinese oil tankers made it out of the Strait of Hormuz, according to shipping data, while upbeat remarks from the ⁠US President and the Vice President pointed to possible movement toward a deal.

President Donald Trump said yesterday that the war could end “very quickly”, and Vice President JD Vance pointed to progress in talks with Tehran on an agreement to halt the fighting.

“We’re in a pretty good spot here,” Mr Vance told a White House press briefing.

Mr Trump spoke a day after saying he had halted a planned resumption of hostilities following a fresh Iranian proposal aimed at ending the conflict.

The US president faces heavy political pressure at home to secure a deal

Iran’s leaders are begging for a deal, he said, adding that a new US attack would come within days if no agreement was reached.

The United States has been trying to bring to an end the war it began with Israel nearly three months ago.

Throughout the conflict, President Trump has repeatedly said an agreement with Tehran was within reach while also warning of heavy strikes on Iran if it failed to accept an accord.

At home, the US president is under intense political pressure to secure an accord that would reopen ‌the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global supplies of ⁠oil and other commodities.

Gasoline prices remain high, and Mr Trump’s approval rating has fallen sharply as congressional elections approach in November.

The conflict has triggered the worst disruption ever seen in global energy supplies, preventing hundreds of tankers from leaving the gulf and damaging energy and shipping facilities across the region.

Two Chinese ships, among a small number of supertankers carrying Iraqi crude out of the gulf this month, moved through the narrow strait with around four million barrels of crude on board, according to data from LSEG and Kpler.

Oil prices softened on the more positive signals from the White House and in the gulf, with Brent crude dropping to as slow as $110.16 (€94) a barrel before recovering much of the decline.

“Investors are ‌keen to gauge whether Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground and reach a peace agreement, with the US stance shifting daily,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, ananalyst at Fujitomi Securities.

JD Vance said the US is seeking to spell out its own red lines

At a White House briefing, Mr Vance told reporters that talks remained complicated by divisions within Iran’s leadership.

“It’s ⁠not sometimes totally clear what the negotiating position of the team is,” he said, adding that the US was trying to make its own red lines clear.

He also said one aim of Mr Trump’s ‌policy was to stop a nuclear arms race from spreading across the region.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said on ⁠X that Mr Trump’s decision to pause ‌an attack reflected a realisation that any move against Iran would mean “facing a decisive military response”.

Iranian state media said Tehran’s latest peace proposal calls for an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, the withdrawal of US forces from areas close to Iran and reparations for destruction caused by the US-Israeli attacks.

Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen funds and an end to the US marine blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as ⁠cited by IRNA news agency.

The terms described in Iranian reports appeared largely unchanged from Iran’s previous offer, which Mr Trump dismissed last week as “garbage”.

The US-Israeli bombing killed thousands of people in Iran before ⁠it was halted under a ceasefire in early April.

Israel has killed thousands more and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in Lebanon, which it invaded while pursuing the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Iranian strikes on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states have killed dozens of people.

The Iran ceasefire has largely held, but drones have recently been launched from Iraq toward Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, apparently by Iran and its allies.

Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they launched the war to curb Iran’s support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear programme, destroy its missile capabilities and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers.

But the war has still not stripped Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium or its capacity to threaten neighbours with missiles, drones and proxy militias.

The Islamic ‌Republic’s clerical leadership, which had faced a mass uprising at the start of the year, weathered the superpower assault with no sign of organised opposition.