US-Iran Talks Stall as Hormuz Standoff Drags On
Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained deadlocked, with Iran insisting the waterway would stay shut until Washington met its demands, and President Trump maintaining that the United States had “total control” of the passage. A mediator claimed progress towards an arrangement, but no deal emerged. Oil held near $89 a barrel, its risk premium intact after fresh attacks on shipping.
The strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes, remains the central front in the standoff, and the clashing claims leave it unclear who really controls it. Tehran is demanding an end to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the release of frozen assets before reopening, while Mr Trump insists the passage is already open under American command. Reports that mediators are inching towards “some sort of arrangement” offered a flicker of hope, but Iran’s public defiance and continued attacks on Gulf shipping tell a different story. Crude has held elevated rather than spiking, a sign traders are braced but not panicking. Watch whether talks produce anything concrete or the confrontation escalates.