U.S. President Donald Trump told FOX5 Las Vegas journalist Tom Durian on Wednesday evening that discussions with Iran were advancing, while stopping short of offering any granular details about the negotiations.
"They wanted to negotiate and were doing that and it seems to be working out quite well," Trump said, adding a caveat that "it may be or it may not be." He also reiterated his claim that Iran had asked the United States to call off a major attack over the weekend.
Earlier in the week the president had said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was imminent and that direct talks with Iran were underway. Tehran, however, pushed back on aspects of that narrative, saying it was dealing only with mediators in Oman and suggesting a Hormuz agreement could be delayed while a U.S. naval blockade on Iran remained in place.
As the exchange continued, the two sides issued contrasting signals. Washington portrayed negotiations as progressing and warned Iran to accept a deal or face additional attacks, while Iran issued threats of retaliation in response to those warnings. Separately, Iranian officials said they had agreed on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the strait and that a joint announcement with Oman was in its final stages.
The dispute between the United States, Israel and Iran has stretched into its seventh consecutive month in August, sustained by an ongoing pattern of threats and intermittent calls for talks. The Strait of Hormuz has remained a central focal point throughout the confrontation: Iran effectively curtailed transit through the waterway after a June ceasefire with the U.S. broke down.
The wider theater of conflict also shows signs of expanding. Yemens Iran-backed Houthi group has begun attacking vessels in the Red Sea, raising concerns that hostilities could spread to new maritime corridors used by global shipping.
Market reaction has been tangible: oil prices fell sharply this week amid optimism that a reopening of a route through Hormuz could allow at least some flows to resume. Those moves reflected market sensitivity to the prospects for an easing of disruption to regional oil exports.
Summary: President Trump described talks with Iran as progressing, while Tehran countered that its negotiations were limited to mediators in Oman and that a Hormuz reopening might be delayed. Both sides issued competing claims about recent events, including whether Iran had sought a U.S. call-off of a weekend attack. Iran said coordinates for a shipping corridor through the strait had been agreed and that a joint announcement with Oman was nearly finalized. The conflict has entered its seventh consecutive month in August, and recent actions by Yemens Houthi group have expanded the risk to nearby shipping lanes. Oil prices have fallen sharply on the possibility of a partial reopening of Hormuz.
Key points:
- U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran "seem to be working out quite well," while cautioning that outcomes were not guaranteed.
- Tehran said it was negotiating only with mediators in Oman and indicated a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be delayed while a U.S. naval blockade remains in place.
- Iran reported agreement on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through Hormuz and said a joint announcement with Oman was in the final stages; markets responded with a sharp drop in oil prices on the prospect of restored flows.
Risks and uncertainties:
- Discrepancies between U.S. and Iranian accounts - The competing narratives about who is negotiating and the scope of talks create uncertainty for diplomatic outcomes and for markets sensitive to regional disruptions (impacting oil and shipping sectors).
- Potential for escalation - Threats from both Washington and Tehran, coupled with retaliatory warnings, mean the conflict could intensify, which would affect energy markets, shipping insurers and regional trade routes.
- Spillover into other maritime corridors - Attacks by Yemens Houthi group in the Red Sea raise the possibility that hostilities could expand beyond the Strait of Hormuz, further disrupting global shipping and logistics chains.