Mediators Restart US-Iran Talks on Hormuz and Port Blockade
Proposed terms would let traffic move freely through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US easing its blockade of Iranian ports
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Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
UpdateTuesday, September 29, 2026 at 2:45 PM ET
A diplomatic source says Iran will not discuss its nuclear dossier until the Hormuz standoff is resolved and the blockade is lifted, a position officials Rezaei and Araghchi have repeated for weeks. Iran says it is still awaiting a US response to a seven-point plan sent through Qatar. After Tuesday's deadline lapsed, Iranian official Qalibaf warned the region will not sell oil if Iran cannot sell its own.
Mediators are making a fresh attempt to broker a settlement between the United States and Iran, days after President Trump rejected an Iranian request to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks to end the war. The terms under discussion would have Iran allow free movement of traffic through the strait, with the US easing its blockade of Iranian ports in return.
The attempt follows a familiar pattern. Iran has held to a demand that the Hormuz and blockade issues be settled before any nuclear talks proceed, and previous mediator-driven rounds have slipped past their own deadlines without a resolution. A deadline Iran had set for a US response on reopening the strait passed on Tuesday without an answer.
The backdrop has grown more tense. A drone struck a ship on the southern Hormuz route, according to Fars. Washington has also been asking European governments to release diesel from strategic reserves, Politico has reported, a sign of how the blockade is being felt beyond the region. Trump said this week that Iran is "failing very badly," that the nuclear issue will be over "very soon," and that oil prices will fall as a result. He has separately said the war itself will end "very soon." Vice President Vance has said Iran must "behave" before any deal is possible.
Traders have reason to treat any claim of progress with caution. Every earlier version of this cycle, including a four to five day ultimatum, a seven day window and a demand over the Oman route, has collapsed without a deal, and the strait has stayed effectively closed throughout. Crude has been carrying a persistent risk premium through the entire sequence. Unless the terms now reported, free transit in exchange for an eased blockade, are actually signed, the more accurate read is a modest, provisional easing rather than a genuine de-escalation.