President Donald Trump again said on Thursday that a deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz to navigation is imminent, even though Tehran appears to be insisting on major concessions from Washington.
"I am involved in the negotiations," Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that "we're doing fine" and that a deal could be concluded "very soon".
Trump may have been referring to the dialogue between Iran and Oman when he began on 2 August to reference ongoing talks with Iran that he said would result in reopening Hormuz within a day or two. Iran and Oman are close to issuing a joint statement specifying "geographical co-ordinates" of a safe transit route through Hormuz, Iran's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. But Tehran is demanding the lifting of the US blockade and other concessions from Washington. The deal with Oman "by itself would not make Hormuz safe for transit", Iran's foreign ministry said.
The US naval blockade remains in place, and the strait of Hormuz is "sort of open right now", Trump said on Thursday. But he acknowledged that threats posed by Iran are deterring many shippers from using the Mideast Gulf waterway. "We control it, but they can always shoot something, or drop a mine, and if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up because people don't want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine," he said.
Trump, who has been expressing unease about elevated energy prices, said on Thursday that "oil prices now are coming down very rapidly, it's down to $75/bl".
September Nymex WTI rose by $2.07/bl to $77.29/bl on Thursday, bouncing higher after steep losses earlier in the week.
Vessel traffic through the strait of Hormuz on Wednesday remained confined mostly to the Iranian-favored northern traffic lane, with maritime security firm Windward recording nine inbound transits and 11 outbound transits, with two transits in both directions taking place on the US-supported southern traffic lane along the coast of Oman.
Iran continues to exert pressure on commercial shipping through the strait by attacking intermittently and by issuing warnings to vessels. A tanker transiting north toward the strait of Hormuz on Wednesday reported two loud explosions in its vicinity, leading it to alter its course and abort transit, according to the UK Trade Maritime Operations (UKTMO).
Iran's forces on Thursday confronted "hostile enemy targets" near the Qeshm island in the strait of Hormuz, said Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The report did not detail whether any vessel came under attack. The Iranian claim has not been independently verified.
