Iran said Sunday that it was closing in on a deal with Oman to establish new shipping lanes through Hormuz, but repeated that the strategic waterway would reopen only after the U.S. met Tehran's other conditions.
A U.S. official had said Friday that an agreement between Iran and Oman was close and could soon reopen the strait, which carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before Iran blocked it in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday an agreement on the strait that lies between the two countries was in the "final stages" but reiterated comments made Saturday that it would not reopen unless other conditions were met.
The agreement would set out the new shipping lanes to be used once the U.S. fulfils those conditions and the strait is reopened, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
Iran and the U.S. are not engaged in talks and Tehran will not start them as long as Washington breaches an interim deal signed in June, Araghchi said, adding that messages are being exchanged via intermediaries.
Iran seeks compensation, end to sanctions
The United States began airstrikes on Iran in late February, saying it aimed to ensure the Islamic republic could not acquire nuclear weapons or threaten the region with missiles or proxies.
It agreed a cease-fire with Iran in June, but reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, which Tehran said was a violation of the truce that had already broken down.
"Once the deal is announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, the United States will lift the blockade of Iranian ports," the U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
U.S. actions would be tied to Iran's implementation of its commitments, the official said. The U.S. comments indicated delicate sequencing toward a deal that sources had told Reuters appeared to be set to give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the strait, something shippers said was not easily workable.
The latest status of the agreement was not clear and Iran's response suggested other factors would also come into play.
Araghchi said reopening the strait would depend on conditions including U.S. compensation to Iran for its widespread attacks.
The secretary of Iran's top national security body, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, also listed ending U.S. threats against Iran, stopping aggression against Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies, lifting a blockade and sanctions on Iran and freeing Iranian assets.
The United Arab Emirates said Saturday that Iran had attacked a ship affiliated to its state oil company. There was no immediate comment from Iran.
Houthis attack Saudi refinery
Iranian strikes on Strait of Hormuz shipping have been coupled with increased attacks by its Yemen-based allies, the Houthis, who have targeted ships at another oil chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis also declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month in response to what they said was a Saudi siege on them in Yemen, an allegation denied by Riyadh, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government.
The Houthis said they had attacked Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defense pact with allies Türkiye and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Shiite Iran.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said a fire had broken out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries, and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause.
The Houthis used a drone to target the refinery, military spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on X. They had struck Aramco sites before in Jazan, which processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day in southwestern Saudi Arabia, and Yanbu on the Red Sea.
They also carried out strikes on the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mocha, according to three sources in the Aden-based government.
It was not clear whether or how either Pakistan or Türkiye would join in any Saudi response to the latest attacks.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support security.
The allies would decide through consultations what degree, form, and format of support they would ask for in the event of an attack, he said.