Iran Says Oman Shipping Routes Are Final, Strait of Hormuz Reopens Only After U.S. Conditions

Iran said an agreement with Oman to define new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz was in its “final stages,” but Abbas Araghchi insisted the waterway would not open unless other conditions were met.

““This does not mean that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,””

Time Magazine

Araghchi said, “This does not mean that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” and he framed reopening as “contingent on the fulfillment of other conditions, which have been conveyed to the American side through intermediaries.”

ABC

The U.S. response, as Donald Trump told Axios, was that Washington was “only semi-negotiating with them,” while he said the U.S. was “just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”

Trump also demanded compensation from Iran after Tehran raised compensation as part of its conditions, writing on Truth Social that he was “likewise demanding compensation from Iran.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei reiterated that the U.S. must meet Tehran’s demands, including compensation, and he said, “In this situation, the United States has no moral or legal standing to complain about the Strait of Hormuz not being open.”

Baghaei’s list, carried by state media, included ending the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq forever, lifting the naval blockade, and “Unconditionally release the frozen and stolen assets of the Iranian people.”

AP News

Trump answered those demands with his own compensation demand on Truth Social, saying, “I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded.”

In the same remarks, Trump said the families of the 17 U.S. sailors killed in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole should be included, and he added “thousands of others killed in combat” to his compensation framing.

The dispute has kept the Strait of Hormuz from returning to pre-war conditions, with Iran’s position tied to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and demands for compensation and sanctions relief.

““It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions,””

AP News

AP reported that Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, “It is up to the U.S. side to stop and make amends for its illegal and destructive actions,” while noting the American blockade of Iranian ports.

CBS News said Trump signaled he would allow economic pressure to pile on Tehran, and it described the U.S. as “semi-negotiating” after Iran set out compensation demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The same CBS News update also tied the wider stakes to regional shipping, noting that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked the government-held port city of Mocha late Sunday night for the second time in 24 hours, “threaten[ing] to expand the conflict into another strategic shipping route on the Red Sea.”