Trump claims Hormuz control as US, Iran harden their positions

President Donald Trump claimed the US had “total control over the Hormuz Strait,” as Washington and Tehran hardened their stances in deadlocked negotiations over the waterway.

“We own it,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington late Tuesday. “And at some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away.”

His comments came after Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, told reporters in Islamabad that the two sides were “close to some sort of arrangement” over Hormuz, without offering details.

The escalating rhetoric casts further doubt on the warring sides reaching any immediate deal over the critical waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before they began fighting on February 28. While they agreed a truce in June, intermittent clashes have continued and Qatar and Pakistan have been trying to mediate a lasting end to the conflict.

Al Jazeera previously reported that talks between Iran and Oman about reopening Hormuz to some maritime shipping had reached an advanced stage, citing a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. The US isn’t directly party to those negotiations.

Officials in Tehran have also signalled that Iran and Oman may be nearing an agreement over Hormuz. Mohsen Rezaee, the newly appointed secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said any agreement with Oman on control over the strait would remain separate from its closure, however, according to a report by state-run IRIB. What conditions Iran may seek to impose on traffic through the waterway also remains unclear.

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Iran conveyed additional conditions to Washington through intermediaries, including demands that the US end the war and unfreeze blocked Iranian assets, IRIB cited Rezaee as saying on Tuesday. The comments followed a meeting with China’s ambassador to Iran, Cong Peiwu, in Tehran.

“We are definitely at a stalemate,” Wendy Sherman, former US deputy secretary of state, told Bloomberg TV. “Unless the US is ready to either allow Iran and perhaps Oman to have voluntary tolls or to give Iran so much relief from sanctions and frozen assets that it’s worth their while, I don’t think we’ll get it open for any sustainable period of time.”

“I think the reality is for the foreseeable future, if not forever, Iran will control the Strait of Hormuz,” she added.

Crude oil continued to climb as traders remain wary of the prospects for a Middle East deal. Global benchmark Brent was up 0.9% at $89.72 per barrel at 7:11 a.m. in London on Wednesday, extending its rally into a sixth day.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a social media post Tuesday that the seven-day average for oil leaving Hormuz is almost 9 million barrels a day, a figure higher than many trader estimates.

A US Navy helicopter fired two missiles at a Panama-flagged cargo vessel attempting to transit the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday, Central Command said in a post on X, adding that the vessel was sailing toward an Iranian port in violation of an American blockade.

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Despite such attacks, so-called shuttle transits through the strait continue, keeping open a key oil supply valve. Satellite images showed vessels conducting cargo transfers outside of Hormuz, indicating that some tankers continue to cross the waterway dark.

A total of 12 such switches were seen along a stretch of water that spans more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) of the coasts of Oman and the United Arab Emirates on Monday, according to data from the European Union’s Sentinel 2 satellite. Some ships have also re-emerged in tracking data, as well as the Kpler and Vortexa platforms, having crossed Hormuz in recent days.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic’s semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

On Monday, Trump said Tehran should pay reparations for those killed in attacks linked to the Islamic Republic as well as in domestic protests. His comments came in response to a series of demands laid out by Iran, including compensation for US violations of the interim peace deal that was agreed in June.

A White House official said Trump believes he’s in a strong negotiating position and is in no rush to secure a deal, but declined to characterise the talks. The US sees Iran’s demands as constantly shifting and believes Tehran faces mounting economic pressure and factional infighting, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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