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Iran is waiting for its Supreme National Security Council to approve a temporary agreement with the United States and Oman on opening the strait and expects that approval to come shortly, Axios reported on August 7, citing a diplomat from one of the mediating countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been asserting a deal was imminent since the start of the week, when he called off a major strike against Iranian energy infrastructure.
“We’re doing very well. I’m involved in the negotiation. I think we’re doing fine. It could be soon,” Trump said a day earlier while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. In the meantime, the U.S. will maintain its blockade of Iranian ports, he added.
In addition to Axios’s report, an American official stated that progress had been made in talks between Iran and Oman aimed at fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“We expect a deal soon,” the official said in a statement sent to querying reporters.
Earlier in the day, MS Now reported that a framework deal had been reached for Iran and Oman to jointly control the strategic waterway—responsible for around 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Under the deal, ships would not be charged tolls. However, the report noted that U.S. support for the agreement was not guaranteed.
An American official was quoted by MS Now as saying Washington will only support the deal if it includes no fees and also no “impediments—meaning no approvals or permissions.” The report didn’t say if the framework includes such provisions.
Meanwhile, an Iranian official said the deal would establish a new Iran-controlled entry route and an Oman-controlled exit route from the Strait of Hormuz.
The same official added that the U.S. and the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization would be involved in the deal’s formal announcement if approved.
Despite the reported progress, Iran’s state-owned Press TV reported that a parliamentary committee was reviewing a preliminary bill that would introduce fees for transit through the Strait of Hormuz, while barring U.S., Israeli, and other “hostile” vessels from passing through the waterway.
The report cited lawmaker Alireza Salimi, who said the bill would also place restrictions on any ships or cargo deemed to have been involved in “hostile actions” against Iran’s regional allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group.
“It would also prohibit the entry and exit of military or warships, as well as vessels involved in espionage, spying, or actions deemed contrary to Iran’s national security,” he said.
The draft bill would impose fines of up to 20 percent of a ship’s cargo value for violations of the proposed restrictions, according to the report.
The lawmaker noted the legislation was still under expert review and that parliament had invited specialists to submit recommendations before the draft was finalized.
While all recent reports indicate that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is near, it is also clear from the same reports that the U.S. and Iran are still in disagreement on how exactly to manage the waterway. This is exactly what happened with the June memorandum of understanding, which eventually led to a serious clash between the two last month.
The upcoming deal will likely be temporary. Traffic through the waterway will not likely go back to its pre-war levels, and tensions will certainly remain high.
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