On Tuesday—day 158 of the Iran War—Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that there had been “progress made in [Iran] talks, but not finality yet,” while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that “there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked by CNBC on Tuesday if Iran would be allowed to charge a toll to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Bessent did not explicitly reject the possibility, instead saying that there would be “freedom of movement.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday denied that any negotiations with the U.S. were ongoing.
Iran says that it is negotiating with Oman and that the talks have “focused on reaching an understanding on a route for the safe passage of shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz.” Those talks are making progress and the two countries “are closing in on an agreement,” the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Under the temporary reopening plan being discussed with Oman, Iran demands control over all inbound traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and oversight of outbound traffic, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. The agreement includes a service fee to cover the environmental impact of the shipping and security for the ships, with revenues expected to be divided equally between Iran and Oman, say Iranian officials cited by the Times.
The U.S. has used “virtually all” of its long-range precision strike missiles during the war in Iran, depleting U.S. stockpiles of ATACMs and Precision Strike Missiles, and burning through about half of its Tomahawk missiles, according to a report published Tuesday by Reuters.
Yemen’s Houthis said they carried out a drone attack against Saudi Arabia’s Najran Airport in response to what the group claimed were violations of Yemen’s airspace by Saudi drones. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, meanwhile, was reported to have carried out an overnight attack against a U.S. base in Kuwait.
The price of Brent Crude oil fell below $80 per barrel on Tuesday. AAA recorded the national average price of regular gas at $4.09.
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