Iran said on August 6, 2026, that a deal with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is close to being finalised, with Tehran's foreign minister describing negotiations as entering their "final stages" and Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi confirming the agreement is in the finalizing stage (The Guardian; IRNA). The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow strip of water between Iran and Oman that ships pass through to move oil out of the Gulf. It has been effectively closed since the start of the war in February, cutting off one of the world's most important oil shipping routes.

Under the proposed arrangement, Iran would have control over ships entering the Gulf through the strait, while Oman would oversee ships leaving it, according to media reports citing sources familiar with the talks (The Guardian). A Reuters report on August 4, citing a source, gave a more detailed picture: Iran wants control over incoming ships and the ability to watch, and if needed step in on, outgoing traffic (Reuters.

These talks trace back to an interim agreement in June, when Iran and Oman reached a deal to reopen the strait and start 60 days of negotiations aimed at ending the war and resolving underlying issues (Arkansas Online). A memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, dated June 18, established that Iran would work with Oman to figure out how the strait would be run going forward (Iranian MFA). Iran's state TV reported on May 27 that a draft deal with the US would reopen Hormuz shipping, end the naval blockade, restore commercial shipping to pre-war levels within a month, and require the United States to withdraw its naval blockade (Reuters.

Despite the optimistic signals, significant gaps remain. Iran said reopening the strait would depend on the US lifting its blockade of Iranian ports (The Guardian). The United States said on August 5 that a deal was close and that Iran and Oman held "positive" talks, though negotiators were still working to expand safe shipping through the strait with key differences unresolved (Yahoo News). Reuters reported that Iranian sources pushed back against US President Donald Trump's claims that a deal was imminent, saying important details were still to be agreed. Trump had told Fox News that talks were "moving along nicely" and that the strait "is going to be open very soon" (The Guardian).

Iranian officials have been clear that whatever emerges will not bring back the situation that existed before the war. Foreign Ministry spokesman Baqaei said the Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war state (IRNA). Parliament speaker declarations added that the strait would be free of charge only for 60 days and that Iran will not back down from its rights in the strategic waterway (IRNA). An Iranian official noted that an understanding with Oman is a necessary but not sufficient step for reopening the strait (IRNA). Iran's Foreign Ministry said the talks in Muscat were focused on how the strait and its shipping routes would be managed (Iranian MFA). Iran is negotiating with Oman to set up a temporary shipping corridor that would work as a single two-way route (IRNA).

Meanwhile, the wider region is getting worse. The Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers with ballistic missiles, with a Houthi military spokesperson calling them the eighth and ninth Saudi tankers targeted since the start of its blockade last month (The Guardian). Shipping traffic through both the Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb straits — the Bab-el-Mandeb being another narrow passage that ships use near the Horn of Africa — dropped significantly compared with the previous day, according to shipping data (The Guardian).

On the Israel-Lebanon front, the June truce between Israel and Hezbollah has shown its first cracks. Two Israeli reserve soldiers were killed and four seriously injured in an explosion in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun, the first Israeli deaths since the truce. Separately, one person was killed and 12 wounded in an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Tebnine, according to Lebanon's health ministry (The Guardian).

The broader context here helps explain why this deal matters and what could come next. If the Iran-Oman framework is finalised, it would change who controls shipping in the Gulf. Iran's push to control incoming ships while keeping the right to step in on outgoing ones would give it ongoing influence over a route that Gulf Arab states and global oil markets depend on. Iran has also tied the strait's reopening to the US lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, which means the deal cannot be finished with Oman alone. Washington has to be part of any complete agreement. The gap between Trump's public optimism and Iranian sources' private caution is worth watching: both sides have reasons to make it sound like things are moving forward, but Iran's insistence that key details are still unresolved suggests the hardest bargaining is still to come.

The Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers and the fraying Israel-Hezbollah truce add pressure from multiple directions, making it harder to solve everything through one set of talks. If both the Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb straits stay blocked, the economic case for a deal gets stronger for everyone involved. But Iran's parliament has already indicated that a reopened strait will come with costs. The 60-day free-transit window and Iran's talk of its "rights" suggest Tehran sees any reopening as a temporary concession, not a return to how things worked before the war.