On Tuesday, Iran threatened to attack infrastructure across the Middle East if its security wasn’t guaranteed, while the United States and Iran remained at odds over who controls the Strait of Hormuz. “In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe,” Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video released by state TV. Qatar was also trying to relay messages between Washington and Tehran. The people living under these governments’ decisions weren’t at the negotiating table.
The Strait as Leverage
The United States and Israel launched a war against Iran in February. Iran responded by attacking U.S. assets across the region, and the sides reached a ceasefire agreement in April. Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in June, intended to halt hostilities and maintain navigation through the strait. Disagreements over security stalled implementation.
Iran kept a blockade on commercial shipping through Hormuz. The U.S. military, meanwhile, maintained a counter-blockade of Iranian ports to stop Tehran from exporting oil. Fighting had subsided, but Tehran continued to target ships while Washington used economic pressure instead of further military action. Both governments claim the waterway is theirs to define. Before the conflict, a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the strait.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the U.S. claim that the strait remained open was false. Spokesperson Hossein Mohebi said a truly open strait would see at least 125 vessels pass daily, carrying a minimum of 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products. “Any vessel attempting to pass through sustains damage — either we strike it, or it hits a mine,” he said. That’s the machinery of blockade described plainly: ships, oil and security reduced to instruments in a contest between states.
Diplomacy, With Conditions
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Qatar was “currently relaying messages between the American and Iranian sides.” He said the sides had held “several meetings and messages have been exchanged,” with current efforts focused on building common ground. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Qatar had presented ideas and would raise the matter with the American side again.
Iran said it would end its blockade only if the Middle East had a seven-day ceasefire, Iranian assets abroad were unfrozen, sanctions on Iran’s oil sector were lifted and the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports ended. Araqchi said reopening Hormuz depended on those conditions. Trump rejected Iran’s plan, telling reporters: “They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.” He also denied reports that he’d offered sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds, posting: “This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was ready for talks but wouldn’t accept “bullying or coercion.” He said Iran was “not seeking war” and would defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks. The U.S. says preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb is among its war aims. Iran has no nuclear weapons, denies wanting to develop them and says it has a right to domestic nuclear-energy capacity.
The Cost Beyond the Table
The fighting’s consequences stretch far beyond officials trading conditions. The war Trump launched alongside Israel as “Operation Epic Fury” had killed thousands, disrupted global energy supplies, pushed up oil prices and fuelled global inflation. On Tuesday, Brent crude futures rose to $106.77 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude stood at $93.94. Iran’s currency also fell to a record low, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one U.S. dollar.
In Gaza, Israel said it killed Izz al-Din Al-Beik, identified by Reuters as the head of Hamas’ armed wing in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas confirmed his killing. AP reported that an Israeli strike on an apartment west of Gaza City killed two people, including the commander, and wounded five, according to Shifa Hospital officials. Territory health officials said at least 1,400 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect; the Israeli military said four Israeli soldiers had been killed. The armed authorities keep issuing claims and counterclaims. The dead don’t get to negotiate the terms.