CAIRO (AP) — Iran and Oman on Wednesday moved closer to an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. President Donald Trump said a deal to reopen the critical waterway could come this week, which could ease pressure on the global economy and help end the war.
The United States and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, citing goals including toppling Tehran’s government and ending its nuclear program. Those were not achieved, and the conflict has devolved
into a fight over the strait as Iran's assertion of control and attacks on shipping have ground traffic there to a near-halt.
The Trump administration previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait, an international waterway before the war. An agreement giving Iran authority over it would be seen as a major loss for the U.S. and a break with global norms.
Closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas once passed, has driven up the price of fuel and related goods far beyond the region. Trump is under mounting pressure to end an unpopular war ahead of midterm congressional elections.
Iranian and Omani negotiators have finalized the draft deal to reopen the strait and await final approval from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, two regional officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Khamenei is believed to have been wounded in the war's opening strikes and has not been seen in public since then.
The officials, who were briefed on the negotiations, portrayed the potential deal as a temporary solution to the dispute over the strait. They said it is tied to an agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran in June that aimed at ending the fighting and reopening the waterway but ultimately collapsed.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, said the potential deal will pave the way for the U.S. and Iran to resume negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Earlier, they had said the potential agreement would have ships enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman. Service fees would be charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, the officials said.
The U.S. has said it is strongly opposed to any arrangement that would see Iran charge fees.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said the agreement with Oman is in the “final stage” of drafting, and that a joint statement will be issued “if certain parties do not obstruct this process,” apparently referring to the U.S.
The U.S. president was asked on Tuesday evening by reporters about a report on the Axios news site that an announcement on the strait could be made on Wednesday.
“It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” Trump said. “A lot of progress has been made.”
Oil prices initially eased but later inched up. Brent crude, the international standard, was around $80 per barrel on Wednesday — still well below the levels it hit at the height of the conflict.
In recent days, Trump has alternately threatened massive strikes and voiced support for diplomatic efforts.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed Wednesday they had fired ballistic missiles toward a Saudi oil tanker on the Red Sea. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Houthis, said in a prerecorded statement that the vessel was targeted off the Saudi port city of Yanbu. He didn’t provide evidence.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
A vessel sailing in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen reported a loud explosion that happened in close proximity, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said Wednesday, adding that the crew was safe.
A recent escalation between the rebels and Saudi Arabia threatens to reignite Yemen's civil war, which pitted the Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the country’s government.
In July, the Houthis announced they were closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea for Saudi-linked shipping. That puts additional pressure on international shipping since the Red Sea became a key alternative route for Saudi oil exports during the war.
The shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah grew more volatile Wednesday, as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri — the first such warning in weeks.
Later, the Israeli military said it had begun conducting “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as “a blatant violation of the ceasefire” that had largely held since June 20.
The escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome for a second day to discuss implementation of a deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they are occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.
A State Department official said the talks in Rome ended early “due to events on the ground” but could continue on Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the diplomacy, said the “discussions focused on a range of political and military issues and were extremely productive.”
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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and Superville from Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Aamer Madhani, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Lee in Washington and Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed.
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This story has been corrected to show that the State Department official was referring to Israel-Lebanon talks ending early and not the talks over the Strait of Hormuz, and that the vessel reporting a loud explosion was in the Gulf of Aden, not the Red Sea.
