President Donald Trump said on Sunday, August 2, 2026, that a deal with Iran was close and that new talks would start the next day, August 3. He said he had cancelled a planned military strike that he described as "the biggest attack since World War II," choosing to try diplomacy instead Al Jazeera.

Trump said the deal is "imminent" and involves two things: the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water between Iran and Oman that ships pass through to carry oil from the Middle East to the rest of the world. About a fifth of all oil used globally each day goes through it. Trump said Iran had agreed to an "immediate, complete, and total opening" of the strait, and that the US would not attack as long as a deal to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions could be reached quickly Al Jazeera Fox News. Trump did not say where the talks would happen, who would take part, or whether there was a deadline Al Jazeera.

Iranian officials told a different story about how the talks would work. Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said on Monday: "We are not going to host a delegation or be guests of a country during these days" Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reporter Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Doha, said an unnamed source suggested that mediators were ready to fly to Tehran for an indirect negotiation — meaning the US and Iran would not sit in the same room but would talk through go-betweens. Bin Javaid reported that Pakistan and Qatar were expected to send representatives, and that the talks would likely start with discussions between Iran and Oman about control of the strait Al Jazeera.

From Tehran, Al Jazeera's Tohid Asadi reported that Iran was talking directly with Oman about reopening the strait and keeping foreign powers out. Alan Eyre, a diplomatic expert at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that the only talks that really mattered at this point were between Iran and Oman. He said Iran had decided it was not worth talking directly to the US because it "can't count on anything the US says" Al Jazeera.

The news had an immediate effect on markets. Oil prices fell and government bonds gained value, as investors reacted with hope that a deal might be reached YouTube/Al Jazeera. Because so much of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, anything that affects its status has a big impact on oil prices and the cost of shipping insurance.

This is not the first time in 2026 that Washington has said a deal with Iran was near. The two sides have gone through several rounds of talks, each followed by new tensions. In February, the White House said Trump had sent a "massive armada" of warships to the region and urged Iran to negotiate. In June, Trump signed an agreement at Versailles, and the White House released a statement titled "President Trump's Iran Agreement Is America First in Action," saying the deal would ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon and would reopen Hormuz. That same month, Reuters reported that Iran and Oman would control the strait together, and Tehran claimed victory. By July, US and Iranian technical experts had finished talks in Doha about Hormuz, with Trump saying progress was being made on nuclear limits White House White House Reuters Reuters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments over the past several months show a pattern of problems. In March, he said some Iranian officials were suggesting Iran should charge a fee to ships passing through the strait. In May, he said Iran had closed the strait entirely and was not letting any ships through. In June, he said Iran had denied agreeing to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN agency that checks whether countries are following nuclear rules. This contradicted what Vice President Vance had said. In July, Rubio said Iran was expected to release a statement opening Hormuz and promising to stop attacks, but that statement never appeared State Department State Department State Department State Department.

In July, Trump appeared on Fox & Friends and, in a White House release, accused Iran of "bad-faith tactics" in the negotiations. He confirmed that the US was gathering intelligence and was ready to act militarily. The White House has consistently paired offers to talk with threats of military force White House.

Trita Parsi, an expert at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Al Jazeera that Trump's habit of escalating and then cancelling attacks on Iran has made it harder to reach a real agreement. Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, said in an NBC interview that the US has "lost perspective" on the possibility of war with Iran and that not having a peace deal would be "fine" Al Jazeera NBC News.

The bigger picture is one of a repeated cycle. Since early 2026, each time Washington has announced a breakthrough with Iran, the progress has fallen apart and tensions have returned. The talks now taking shape rely on indirect mediation — countries like Oman, Qatar, and Pakistan acting as messengers between the US and Iran — rather than direct face-to-face negotiation. Whether this round leads to a lasting deal or becomes just another step in the cycle will depend largely on whether the Strait of Hormuz question can be settled on its own, apart from the harder question of Iran's nuclear program.