RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 18 sourcesx whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info By Caolán Magee Published On 5 Aug 2026 5 Aug 2026 The United States, Iran and Oman appear to be edging closer to an interim agreement that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes of easing a crisis in one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the Middle East .
The proposed agreement, which has been under negotiation for several weeks, is intended to restore the June 17 ceasefire between Washington and Tehran; resolve disputes over shipping through the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies had been shipped in peacetime; and create space for broader negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme and other issues.
US President Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone on Tuesday evening, telling reporters negotiations with Iran were “moving along very nicely”.
“We’ll find out. We’ll know in 48 hours,” he said when asked whether a deal was imminent. “The strait is going to be open very soon, or they’re going to get hit very hard, and then the strait is going to be open.”
Trump made the comments after he reportedly decided over the weekend not to carry out what he had described as the biggest US military attack since World War II, in line with his now familiar pattern of repeatedly threatening to strike Iran before advocating at the last minute for diplomatic solutions instead.
Iran, meanwhile, continues to deny holding direct talks with Washington. Its officials have insisted that discussions are taking place with Oman over how to manage the Strait of Hormuz. Oman, whose territorial waters the strait also flows through, has long acted as a mediator between the two countries.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the Oman talks have been “positive” and were continuing although Iran’s Sepah News quoted an official as saying US military threats remained the main obstacle to reaching an agreement.
The diplomatic push comes as tensions spike in and around the Strait of Hormuz. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported a cargo ship had been struck by an unidentified projectile off Oman.
Commercial traffic through the waterway also remains heavily disrupted. Only eight vessels transited the strait on Monday, compared with roughly 130 ships per day before the US-Israel war on Iran erupted on February 28. The situation has raised concerns that prolonged disruptions could send oil prices sharply higher.
Against that backdrop, mediators are racing to secure at least a temporary agreement over the waterway before trying to revive a broader memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Iran and the US in June, which was intended to lay the groundwork for wider negotiations. Here’s what we know:
The negotiations centre on two questions: who controls the Strait of Hormuz and whether Iran should be allowed to impose fees on commercial vessels to pass through it.
The dispute over the waterway began after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Tehran responded by closing the strait, disrupting one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and causing global energy prices to spike.
When Iran later reopened parts of the waterway, it ordered commercial ships to use a northern shipping lane passing through Iranian waters around Larak Island. The US later imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports in an effort to increase economic pressure on Tehran, which was still managing to export its own oil via the strait.
After a ceasefire in April, Washington proposed that ships instead use a southern route along Oman’s coast. Iran rejected the proposal, arguing eventually that it violated the US-Iran MoU and targeting several ships that had followed the Oman route.
Mediators are now trying to broker a compromise that would allow commercial shipping to resume while addressing the security concerns of both Iran and Oman.
Below is the route map that Iran issued to ships it gave permission to pass during the war.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said the talks with Oman are focused on “establishing safe inbound and outbound shipping lanes” that “uphold sovereign rights while also addressing the national security considerations of both Iran and Oman”.
Baghaei said the discussions have been assessed positively at both the political and technical levels although differences remain over how shipping through the strait would operate.
Iranian officials said outstanding issues include the mechanism for reopening the waterway, maritime service fees and broader security arrangements.
Tehran also continues to insist it is negotiating only with Oman, not directly with Washington, and maintains that Iran and Oman should jointly manage the strait according to their respective territorial waters and they should retain control of navigation there.
Furthermore, Iran has intimated that it plans to introduce some form of fee system for ships. Under international maritime law, tolls for passage cannot be levied on international straits such as Hormuz but coastal states may charge for services they provide, such as navigational assistance, pilotage and environmental protection.
US officials said the Trump administration wants total freedom of commercial navigation through the waterway without Iranian tolls or any arrangement requiring ships to obtain Tehran’s approval before transiting the strait.
A US official familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press news agency that any temporary arrangement would not involve Iranian approval for ships to transit or charges for using the waterway. The official said Washington remained committed to restoring the previous system in which “no party controls the lanes or the ability to transit through them”.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump rejected any suggestion that Iran should be allowed to charge vessels using the strait.
“I’m not going to let them charge,” he said. “Anybody’s going to c...
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