Iran links Hormuz reopening to US meeting promises

Iran is conditioning the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz—a chokepoint it has effectively blockaded—on the US meeting specific demands: compensation, an end to threats, lifting sanctions, and freeing Iranian assets. Per Dawn, President Pezeshkian says this is the best time for a deal, claiming Iran is "victorious" in the conflict that began on February twenty-eighth. Separately, Iran and Oman are negotiating new shipping arrangements through the strait. Iran's Foreign Minister says an agreement is "very close," but Iran insists that reopening the waterway depends on US concessions, not just an accord with Oman. The US government is internally divided. Vice President Vance told Fox News that Washington expects oil and gas shipments to return to pre-war levels and that Iran has assured the US it won't impose tolls. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper countered that giving Iran and Oman administrative control over the strait would be "a very bad outcome." Behind these public positions, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has privately been seeking what the military calls an "off-ramp" from the war, according to CNN reporting.

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