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 — a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply normally passes — has been effectively closed since the start of the war in February, choking off one of the most critical oil transit routes on the planet.

Under the proposed arrangement, Iran would have control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, while Oman would oversee outbound shipping, according to media reports citing sources familiar with the talks (The Guardian). A Reuters report on August 4, citing a source, offered a more detailed account: Iran wants control over inbound shipping and visibility over outbound traffic, with the ability to intervene if needed (Reuters).

The roots of this negotiation go back to an interim agreement in June, when Iran and Oman reached a deal to reopen the strait and launch 60 days of talks 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 conduct dialogue with Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the strait (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 hinge 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 rejected US President Donald Trump's claims that a deal to reopen the strait 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 explicit that whatever emerges will not restore the pre-war status quo. Foreign Ministry spokesman Baqaei said the Strait of Hormuz will never return to the situation that existed before the war (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 condition for reopening the strait (IRNA). Iran's Foreign Ministry said the Muscat talks were fundamentally focused on arrangements for the administration of the strait and its navigation routes (Iranian MFA). Iran is negotiating with Oman to establish a temporary shipping corridor that would serve as a single two-way route (IRNA).

The broader regional picture is worsening in parallel. The Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers with ballistic missiles, with a Houthi military spokesperson identifying them as 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 latter being the narrow passage between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula — reduced 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 fractures. Two Israeli reserve soldiers were killed and four seriously injured in an explosion in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun, marking 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 matters for understanding where this could be headed. If finalised, the Iran-Oman framework would restructure who controls maritime traffic in the Gulf. Tehran's insistence on controlling inbound traffic while retaining intervention rights over outbound vessels gives it lasting leverage over the economic lifeline of Gulf Arab states and global oil markets. The linkage Iran has drawn between Hormuz's reopening and the lifting of the US port blockade means the deal cannot be completed with Muscat alone; Washington remains a necessary party to any comprehensive arrangement. The gap between Trump's public optimism and Iranian sources' private caution is itself a negotiating dynamic worth tracking: both sides have incentives to project momentum, but Tehran's stipulation that key details remain unresolved suggests the hardest bargaining lies ahead.

The simultaneous pressure from Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers and the fraying Israel-Hezbollah truce adds a multi-front dimension that complicates any single-track diplomatic resolution. If the Bab-el-Mandeb and Hormuz chokepoints remain constricted, the economic rationale for a deal intensifies for all parties. But Iran's parliament has already signalled that the post-deal environment will carry costs, with the 60-day free-transit window and Iran's assertion of its "rights" suggesting Tehran views any reopening as a temporary concession rather than a return to the pre-war order.