Iran sets sweeping US demands for reopening Strait of Hormuz as Oman deal nears

Tehran says Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened unless the US lifts all sanctions, pays reparations to Iran, and withdraws its forces from neighboring countries.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran said Saturday it will not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the United States lifts sanctions, withdraws military forces from around the country, ends attacks on Tehran and its regional allies and compensates Iran for damage from the war, raising new obstacles to US efforts to restore normal shipping through the vital energy corridor.

The demands were laid out by Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, even as Tehran and Oman said they were close to completing a separate agreement governing the movement of ships through the strait.

Zolghadr said the waterway would remain closed until Washington “corrects its behavior,” according to Iran International.

Iran’s conditions include an end to US threats against the Islamic Republic; a permanent halt to attacks against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Yemen and Iraq; an end to the US naval blockade; withdrawal of US naval and air forces from the area; compensation for wartime damage; the lifting of economic sanctions; and the unconditional release of frozen Iranian assets.

“The Supreme National Security Council will never back down, whether in war or in negotiations,” Zolghadr said.

The sweeping demands highlight the gap between Tehran and Washington as the Trump administration seeks an arrangement that could restore commercial shipping and form part of a broader path toward ending the five-month-old war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran and Oman were “very close” to reaching an agreement on a temporary navigation route through the strait.

But Araghchi stressed that an agreement governing ship movements “does not necessarily mean the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Instead, Tehran is treating the shipping arrangement with Oman and the broader reopening of Hormuz as separate issues.

Iran and Oman are negotiating a temporary route while technical and legal work continues on a permanent Traffic Separation Scheme. Tehran says the previous system governing traffic through the strait is no longer acceptable.

The proposed temporary arrangement would reportedly send ships entering the Persian Gulf through a route close to Iran and outbound vessels along a route closer to Oman.

Two people familiar with the negotiations told AP that vessels would not be charged tolls during the temporary period.

Previous Reuters reported that an earlier version of the proposed agreement could give Tehran a degree of authority over inbound traffic — a potentially significant shift from the situation before the war, when vessels transited the international waterway without Iranian permission or fees. Iran had sought charges of between 5% and 7% of cargo value, while Oman discussed a lower figure and Washington opposed tolls altogether.

The latest negotiations may have moved away from that proposal.

Vice President JD Vance said Saturday that Tehran had told Washington it did not intend to charge ships for using the strait and that talks with Gulf countries, particularly Oman, were focused on establishing a safe route and removing mines laid during the fighting.

“We don’t trust, we verify,” Vance told Fox News, saying Washington would judge Iran according to what it actually does.

Vance said the US expectation is that oil and gas exports from the Persian Gulf eventually return to their prewar levels. He also said Washington wants a commitment from Iran that it will stop attacking commercial vessels.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, however, made clear Saturday that Tehran does not consider an Iran-Oman navigation agreement sufficient.

“Whenever the United States accepts Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will certainly be reopened,” IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Oman, which has served as one of the principal intermediaries during negotiations, described the latest discussions with Iran as “positive and constructive” while urging all parties to avoid steps that could derail them.

The diplomatic movement comes as attacks on commercial shipping continue.

The United Arab Emirates said Saturday that Iran fired a missile at a vessel affiliated with state-owned oil company ADNOC as it traveled through the Strait of Hormuz.

No casualties were reported. The UK Maritime Trade Operations center separately reported that a vessel east of Khasab, Oman, had been struck by a projectile and briefly caught fire, although it was not immediately clear whether the two reports referred to the same incident.

ADNOC said more than a dozen of its vessels have been attacked with missiles and drones since the US-Israel war with Iran began in February, leaving one crew member dead and 20 others wounded.

Iranian authorities did not immediately comment on Saturday’s reported attack.

Washington has indicated that the blockade could be lifted if Iran restores unobstructed commercial shipping.

A US official told Reuters Friday that the United States would remove its blockade of Iranian ports once an agreement restoring unrestricted commercial shipping was announced and implemented.

Yet the Trump administration is simultaneously increasing economic pressure on Tehran.

On Friday, the Treasury Department announced another round of sanctions targeting international networks it accused of enabling Iran’s shadow banking system to move hundreds of millions of dollars through foreign exchange houses and shell companies.

Treasury said it had taken eight actions against Iran’s shadow banking network in 2026 and remained committed to President Donald Trump’s maximum-pressure policy.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also indicated Saturday that Tehran remains interested in reaching an agreement despite describing the United States as an unreliable negotiating partner.

He said the current moment represented a particularly favorable opportunity for diplomacy and that Iran was seeking to escape the prolonged condition of being caught between war and peace.