RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesUS President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Aug 2 that new negotiations with Iran would cover the Strait of Hormuz, a key sticking point in the Iran conflict.
Listen Summarise US President Donald Trump announced new negotiations with Iran starting Aug 3 to address the Strait of Hormuz dispute and Iran's denuclearisation. Iran is close to a deal with Oman on a new route through the Strait of Hormuz, amid ongoing tensions and recent tanker explosion reports. Trump halted planned US strikes on Iran after requests from Iran and Gulf partners, aiming to pursue a diplomatic resolution to the six-month conflict. AI generated
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said new negotiations with Iran will begin on Aug 3 after he decided to hold off on striking the Islamic republic to pursue a deal to end the war now entering its sixth month.
Trump told reporters on Aug 2 that the talks would cover the Strait of Hormuz – a route for global energy supplies that has become a key sticking point in the conflict – and, ultimately, the denuclearisation of Iran.
For its part, Iran said it was nearing a deal with Oman over a new route through the strait, where a tanker reported an explosion nearby on Aug 2, underscoring the continued volatility of the strategic waterway.
Oil prices fell on Aug 3 at the opening of Asian trade after Trump announced the new negotiations, with West Texas Intermediate dropping 4.7 per cent to US$80.72 per barrel.
Washington and Tehran have been at war since Feb 28, when the US and Israel launched surprise strikes against Iran, though months of on-off diplomacy have led to periods of relative calm.
Following a return to strikes in July , fears had mounted that the fighting could escalate once again. Trump had threatened to hit Iran “very hard” and was reportedly considering renewed attacks, including against energy infrastructure, with US embassies across the region on alert.
Trump pulled back from that threat on Aug 1 , saying the “perimeters” of a deal were there.
“Now what we’re doing is we’re talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Aug 2, without providing details of the venue or participants in the talks.
The US President said he had been asked by Iran, as well as US partners Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, to hold off on the strikes, which he claimed would have been “the biggest attack since World War II”.
Iranian media denied that Tehran had asked Trump not to strike.
A previous ceasefire deal that included the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz fell through and Iran has since tightened its control over the waterway.
The US President said at the start of the conflict that the war was necessary to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme. Western nations accuse Iran of seeking a bomb, although Tehran insists the programme is entirely civilian in nature.
Iranian lawmaker Hassan Ghashghavi, spokesman for the Parliament’s national security commission, said on Aug 2 that mediators were trying to revive the US-Iran memorandum of understanding that was agreed in June.
That agreement was not intended as a final peace deal but as a stepping stone to negotiations on a comprehensive agreement, though it did include provisions on Hormuz.
“They know that the main issue and, in fact, the key to the matter right now is the issue of the Strait of Hormuz. So, yes, there is an exchange of views,” Ghashghavi said.
Posting on social media platform X, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said: “We must strive to compel the enemy to remain committed to what it has signed.”
Before the war, there was free passage for all vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran closed the strait during the war and now insists on retaining control and charging tolls, something the US rejects.
That dispute sparked the return to strikes in July as Tehran refused to let ships travel any route other than one that hugs the Iranian coast.
On Aug 2, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on state television that a deal was close with Oman, which sits on the other side of the strait, over a new route through it.
“We are now going to reach an understanding on a route acceptable to both sides – neither the northern route nor the southern route – but one that respects the sovereign rights of both sides and safeguards our national interests and security,” he said.
He insisted, though, that such an agreement did not mean the reopening of the strait.
Maritime trade tracking firm Kpler said on July 31 that traffic through Hormuz had dropped sharply.
On Aug 2, a tanker off the coast of Oman reported hearing an explosion near the vessel, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported, adding that the vessel and crew were all safe. AFP
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