Cairo: US President Donald Trump said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come soon as Iran and Oman inched toward an agreement on the critical waterway that could ease pressure on the global economy and potentially help bring an end to the war.
The US, along with Israel, launched the war on February 28, citing various goals including toppling Tehran’s government and ending its nuclear programme. But the conflict has devolved into a fight over the strait as Iranian threats and attacks on shipping ground traffic through the waterway to a halt.
Closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas once passed, has driven up the price of fuel and basic goods far beyond the region, roiling the global economy. Trump is also under mounting pressure to end an unpopular war ahead of midterm congressional elections.
The US president was asked by reporters travelling with him in California about a report on the Axios news site that an announcement on the Strait of Hormuz could be made on Wednesday.
“It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” he said, speaking Tuesday evening California time. “A lot of progress has been made.”
Oil prices initially eased on hopes of a deal that would allow shipping to resume but later inched upward. Brent crude, the international standard, was around USD 80 per barrel on Wednesday – still well below the levels it hit at the height of the conflict.
The US and Iran reached a deal to open the strait in June, only for attacks to resume. In recent days, Trump has again alternately threatened massive strikes and voiced support for diplomatic efforts.
Even as hopes increased that a deal on the Strait of Hormuz could be imminent, attacks on shipping in the region continued.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed Wednesday they had fired ballistic missiles toward a Saudi oil tanker called the Wafa in the Red Sea. Brig Gen Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a prerecorded statement that the vessel was targeted off the Saudi port city of Yanbu. He didn’t provide evidence.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
