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Hormuz talks near completion
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz are entering their “final stages,” as Tehran insisted the waterway will never return to its pre-war status.
“entering their “final stages””
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, said Tehran and Muscat were close to reaching a deal on a new maritime route through Hormuz, separate from existing corridors.
Baghaei said Tehran and Muscat were aiming for “a route acceptable to both sides – neither the northern route nor the southern route,” while safeguarding “our national interests and security.”
The talks were described as bilateral, with Iran saying the understanding “does not mean that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened or remain closed,” even as US President Donald Trump said the “perimeters” of a deal would include “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.”
Competing claims and messaging
Trump said early on Sunday that the US and Israel agreed to halt new attacks on Iran if a deal is reached “rapidly,” and he posted that the agreement would include the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT.”
Iranian officials pushed back on the idea that Tehran asked for the pause, with Mehr News Agency quoting military officials saying Trump’s statement was “nothing but another lie,” and emphasizing that Iranian armed forces were on high alert.
In an interview with state television, Esmail Baghaei said, “We are now going to reach an understanding on a route acceptable to both sides,” and he added that the understanding had “nothing to do with whether the Strait of Hormuz is reopened or remains closed.”
The BBC reported that Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the Iran-Oman negotiations had entered their final stages, while it also cited Fars News Agency saying “the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the United States continues its hostile actions.”
What’s at stake next
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the northern route was “completely safe” during the first 22 or 23 days of the memorandum’s implementation, while he said the US then launched a military attack against Iran before the expiry of the 30-day period intended to restore maritime traffic to pre-war conditions.
“completely safe during the first 22 or 23 days”
Baquaei warned regional countries against facilitating any potential US attack, saying “Providing the aggressor with access to military bases” would place that country “among the aggressors,” and he stressed that the agreed route would be “neither the current northern route nor the southern route.”
The BBC said mediators were seeking to revive the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed in Islamabad, which briefly halted the war between Iran and the United States in June, and Hassan Qasqaavi said “there are ongoing efforts, particularly by the mediators, to revive the Islamabad agreement consisting of 14 provisions.”
As the Strait of Hormuz remained the “core issue,” the BBC also reported that U.S. Central Command said it had “changed the course of 35 merchant ships, disabled two ships, and inspected two others” during its blockade of Iran, underscoring the operational pressure around the waterway.
