RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Oman has said positive talks have been taking place with Iran over an agreement to secure a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran warned that any deal would not see an immediate reopening of the vital waterway.
Both sides suggested on Saturday that discussions were progressing, but a timeline on any deal being finalised remained unclear. Oman's foreign ministry warned against attacks on shipping that could hamper that.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks were in their final stages but the reopening of the strait remained "subject to other conditions".
Tehran has effectively blockaded the waterway, through which around a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas usually flows, since the US and Israel began attacking it in February.
Talks in recent days have focused on the possibility of a deal between Iran and Oman on a new route through the strait, which they would both have responsibility for and is hoped would lead to progress in resuming shipping traffic.
But Araghchi said a full reopening of the typically busy maritime route depended on other conditions being met, of which he provided a cursory appraisal.
He said the conditions included Iran receiving compensation from the US for what Tehran described as violations of the deal both sides signed in June to cease fighting and advance talks to end the war.
That deal - called a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) - quickly fell through, as did diplomatic talks, with tit-for-tat attacks resuming just days after it was signed.
Separately, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, Iran's security chief, told the semi-official news agency Tasnim that the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the US "corrects" its behaviour.
He said the US needed to meet six Iranian demands, including a halt to threats against Iran, removal of its naval blockade of Iranian ports and release of Iran's frozen assets.
Another blockade, on Saudi Arabia's ports in the Red Sea, had been imposed by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis since 20 July.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran "could be soon", but Vice-President JD Vance appeared to be more sceptical on Saturday, telling Fox News that work remained to be done even if progress was being made.
"We're really in the middle of the game here," he said. "This thing is not over."
Vance added that "we're applying a whole host of tools - diplomatic, economic [and] military tools - to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people".
Additionally, he claimed that the "same amount of oil" will emerge from the Gulf as did before the US military operation began on 28 February, although he offered no details.
"What we're really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships can pass through safely," he added.
One of the main points of disagreement between Tehran and Washington has been Iran's reported threat to impose a fee on vessels wishing to cross the strait.
Vance downplayed those reports, saying: "The Iranians have told us they have no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz."
Oman's warning against attacks on ships in the strait came as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Saturday that Iran had targeted a tanker affiliated with Adnoc, its state-owned oil company, as it passed through.
The UAE's foreign ministry said in a statement that a "hostile Iranian attack" had hit an Adnoc tanker "with a missile". It added that there were no casualties.
Later on Saturday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency also reported a ship being struck by "an unknown projectile" off the coast of Oman, causing "a fire that has been extinguished" but no casualties.
It is unclear whether UKMTO was referring to the same ship as the UAE.
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