US seeks Iranian pledge to free up Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump said on Friday the US and Iran had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week.
Highlights
- Trump says US agrees to continue talks with Iran
- Top Iranian and US officials reportedly planning Saturday talks
- US demands Iran stop attacks in Strait of Hormuz
- High oil prices increase pain for US and global consumers
Iran's foreign minister arrived in Oman on Saturday (11 July) to discuss arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said, with Washington seeking a public pledge of free, secure transit.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday the US and Iran had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week, while also declaring an end to the ceasefire reached between the two sides. No attacks were reported on Friday or early Saturday, however.
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Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Saturday that Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi had arrived in Oman. The country is helping to mediate an end to a war that has spread insecurity in the Gulf and raised prices around the world since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28.
CBS News and its UK partner the BBC both reported that US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to lead negotiations on Saturday with Aragchi.
Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the reports, which did not say whether they would be in Oman or attend virtually. Iran's Fars news agency later cited a source saying no negotiations would take place until the US retreated from its positions.
IRAN SAYS US HAS VIOLATED THE INTERIM AGREEMENT
Aragchi accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement; the US 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 US to hit Iranian sites, and Iran to respond with strikes on US 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 US officials told reporters on Friday that Iran had informed US 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 US 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 US 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 US 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 US 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 US 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, US 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 US consumers. After weeks of steady declines, crude oil prices posted their biggest weekly rise in eight weeks.
