- Asmat Sumalani
- July 31, 2026
US presses Iran for Strait of Hormuz shipping assurances as diplomatic contacts continue
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- Reuters
- July 11, 2026
WASHINGTON/CAIRO: The United States is seeking a public commitment from Iran to guarantee the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as diplomatic efforts continue to ease tensions in the Gulf, according to Reuters.
Iranian state media reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Oman on Saturday to discuss arrangements related to maritime security in the strategic waterway. Oman has been playing a mediating role amid the conflict that has disrupted regional stability and driven up global oil prices since US and Israeli strikes on Iran earlier this year.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington and Tehran had agreed to continue diplomatic engagement despite heightened hostilities in recent days and the end of a previously announced ceasefire. No attacks were reported overnight into Saturday.
Meanwhile, media reports suggested senior US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, could hold talks with Araqchi on Saturday (today). Reuters, however, said it was unable to independently verify the reports or determine whether any discussions would take place in person or virtually.
Iran’s Fars news agency later quoted a source as saying negotiations would not proceed unless the United States changed its current position.
Iran says U.S has violated the interim agreement
Araqchi accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement; the U.S. revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after the vessels were hit.
“There can only be mutual compliance,” he wrote on X.
Three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire earlier in the week, prompting the U.S. to hit Iranian sites, and Iran to respond with strikes on U.S. military sites in Gulf states.
While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
Senior U.S. officials told reporters on Friday that Iran had informed U.S. officials that recent attacks on shipping in the strait were from an “errant part of their system”, comments that appeared to be aimed at calming tensions.
The flareup cast further doubt over the future of an interim agreement aimed at ending the conflict and pushed oil prices higher, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
Iran disputed Trump’s interpretation, saying it had not requested talks with the U.S. but had agreed to host a Qatari mediator, state television reported. Qatari negotiators met officials in Iran on Friday to de-escalate tensions and discuss the Strait of Hormuz, a person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Trump also posted that he had ordered the U.S. military to be prepared to launch strikes against Iran if Tehran carried out or attempted an assassination of the president.
“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he posted.
The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. media reported this week that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington that Iran had recently devised a plan to assassinate Trump.
There was no immediate comment from Iran on Trump’s latest remarks.
At the funeral of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, a huge crowd of mourners packed a courtyard, some bearing banners reading, “We Will Kill Trump.” Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.
US officials report constructive conversations with Iran
The United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the strait – and that all lanes will be open with no tolls through the waterway that carried one-fifth of global oil supplies before the war, the senior U.S. officials told reporters on Friday.
During the war Tehran has largely taken control of the strait, forcing a stalemate in its confrontation with the world’s most powerful military.
At least 17 people were killed in U.S. strikes on six cities in Iran on Wednesday and Thursday, the head of the public relations and information center at Iran’s Health Ministry said. He said 115 people were wounded.
Even so, U.S. officials said conversations between the two countries had been productive in recent days.
Tehran said any breach of commitments by Washington would be met with “reciprocal action,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said, according to state media.
Last month’s interim deal was meant to pave the way to the end of a conflict now in its fifth month, which has killed thousands, throttled worldwide energy supplies and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
Renewed fighting in the Gulf has increased the pain for U.S. consumers. After weeks of steady declines, crude oil prices posted their biggest weekly rise in eight weeks.
