Hormuz Deal 'Moving Along': Trump Teases Breakthrough as Iran, Oman Finalise Terms

Iran and Oman appear close to finalising an arrangement over the Strait of Hormuz, even as President Donald Trump keeps signalling an agreement is near without confirming its terms. Iran's Foreign Ministry says talks with Oman are in their final stages, though Tehran insists the deal represents a new security arrangement rather than a full reopening of the vital waterway, through which a fifth of the world's oil normally passes. The proposed mechanism would have ships entering the Persian Gulf through Iranian waters and exiting through Omani waters, a model Iranian state media describes as different from the six-decade-old practice of free transit.

Trump has repeatedly teased an imminent breakthrough, telling reporters at the White House on Thursday that he is personally involved in the negotiations and that things are "going very well." In an interview released Friday, he said Iran wants a deal because it doesn't "want to be hit." Yet his tone has fluctuated, after predicting a deal within a day or two earlier in the week, he later struck a more cautious note, saying simply "we're talking, let's see what happens." On Friday, Iranian lawmakers were reported to still be debating the exact wording of the Oman framework, even as Trump described the talks as "moving along."

Washington continues to insist any temporary shipping routes must come without tolls or fees, a red line for the administration. A US official said any agreed routes would carry "no approvals or permissions and no tolls or charges," maintaining that the strait is an international waterway which no single party controls. A genuine full reopening, however, would likely require Washington to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports and scale back its regional military presence, a step the administration has so far resisted.

Markets have reacted to the drumbeat of optimism: Trump's latest remarks on a possible deal pushed oil prices lower and lifted stocks. Meanwhile, doubts persist about America's staying power in the standoff, with reports of depleting US munitions stockpiles and mounting military casualties from the five-month war continuing to shadow the diplomacy, even as Trump publicly dismisses those concerns.