US-Iran Talks Stalled: Strait of Hormuz Remains Blockaded

Iran continues to reject US claims that Washington is controlling the Strait of Hormuz, with negotiations aimed at achieving a peace deal between the two sides yet to make progress.

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Wednesday (Aug 13) that the United States is "in full control" of the crucial waterway. However, Iran has strongly rebutted this and insisted it will not reopen the strait until conditions related to US aggression, compensation, and sanctions are met.

"The repeated statements and posts by US officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blockaded do not change the reality," Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) posted on social media platform X on Wednesday. "The Strait of Hormuz remains closed and will not be reopened until Iran's conditions are accepted."

Latest Developments in US-Iran Tensions

Iranian forces are currently preventing vessels from transiting the narrow strait, which lies within Iranian and Omani territorial waters, unless they have explicit approval from Tehran. Despite Trump's assertions, ship traffic through this vital waterway has dropped to its lowest in a week due to Iran's blockade activities.

Meanwhile, the US is enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports both within and around the strait. On Tuesday (Aug 12), US forces targeted a Panama-flagged vessel they believed was heading to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman and allegedly failed to respond to warnings.

On Thursday (Aug 14), Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US has "long miscalculated due to intelligence failures," including when launching the war against Iran alongside Israel with airstrikes on Tehran on Feb 28. In posts on X, Araghchi said Washington's actions in the Strait of Hormuz were "an even bigger miscalculation."

Commander of the Basij paramilitary force, an organization affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, emphasized that the strait is "under Iran's control and management."

Iran-Oman Talks

Iran has said it is not negotiating directly with the US over the strait. Instead, Tehran is conducting talks with Oman, a country with which Iran has proposed co-managing the waterway in the future.

After Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on June 17, under which Iran committed to opening the strait within 60 days, the two sides quickly fell into disagreement over control of the waterway and shipping routes. Iran fired on several vessels it said were not following approved routes, leading to a resurgence of conflict with the US. Iran also differs with the US over whether it can collect tolls for ships passing through the strait.

On Tuesday (Aug 12), Qatar said that negotiations between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz had reached an "advanced stage." "As mediators, we want the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened as soon as possible," Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said at a press briefing.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said talks with Oman focus on "establishing safe shipping lanes" aimed at "maintaining sovereign rights while addressing the national security considerations of both Iran and Oman." Last week, Iran said it had agreed with Oman on the coordinates for these shipping lanes.

Broader Peace Negotiations Progress

Iran has declared it will not negotiate directly with the US because Washington violated the June 17 MoU by resuming airstrikes on Iran in July.

Pakistan is making efforts to mediate peace talks. Islamabad said on Tuesday that it was working to bring the US and Iran "back to the negotiating table," as Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran.

In April, the US and Iran held direct talks in Islamabad with US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in attendance. On June 17, the two sides signed the MoU remotely, which was expected to launch a 60-day negotiation process. However, disagreements have prevented progress, and the talks have been stalled since.

Alan Eyre, a distinguished fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, suggested that the only significant negotiations currently underway are between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran considers direct talks with the US not worthwhile because "nothing the US says can be trusted."

Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the US-based Center for International Policy, remarked that the crucial question is whether the escalating rhetoric from both sides is "opening negotiating positions or drawing actual red lines." She said: "If both sides are willing to compromise, there is still a path to ending the conflict and reopening the strait. If not, Hormuz could remain restricted and the confrontation risks becoming another prolonged conflict in the Middle East."

Latest Demands from Iran and the US

Over the weekend, Iran's Supreme National Security Council issued new conditions that the US must meet before the Strait of Hormuz can be fully reopened. The six conditions include: ending US threats and insults against Iran; permanently ending attacks against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq; lifting the US naval blockade and withdrawing naval and air forces from the region; compensating for damages from two "imposed wars"; lifting sanctions; and unconditionally releasing Iran's frozen assets.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday (Aug 11) that his administration would demand compensation for "50 years" of damages caused by Iran, including the deaths of US forces in the region and civilian protesters in Iran. He claimed that 52,000 people had been killed in Iran over the past four months. Tehran has said about 3,117 people died in anti-government protests in January, before the US-Israel war began. In February, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported about 7,000 deaths, including 6,500 protesters.

Analysts suggest the US may have to concede to some of Iran's demands due to growing domestic pressure to avoid a new escalation. US media have reported that concerns over depleted defensive ammunition stockpiles contributed to Trump not carrying out the large-scale airstrikes on Iran he had threatened.