Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz would run unrestricted under a tentative ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran. The terms are largely settled but still wait on President Donald Trump’s approval, negotiators told the Anadolu agency.

The deal would extend an existing ceasefire by 60 days and give both sides a framework for fresh nuclear talks. Negotiators from Washington and Tehran had largely finalised the language by Thursday, according to US officials.

The waterway has been a flashpoint. A US naval blockade has constrained traffic through one of the world’s tightest oil routes, and Iranian forces have harassed passing ships. The proposed memorandum would unwind that. Iran would keep the strait open to commercial vessels. It would clear all mines from the water within 30 days and stop charging tolls or threatening ships. In return the United States would lift its blockade in stages as normal traffic returns.

The Strait of Hormuz is the busiest oil chokepoint in the world. About 20 million barrels of oil pass through it every day, around a fifth of global petroleum supply. Roughly 15 million barrels of that is crude and condensate. The rest is refined fuel such as diesel and jet fuel. The strait also handles about a quarter of all oil moved by sea. Most of it leaves Gulf producers through the same narrow lane between Iran and Oman and heads for Asia. At its tightest point the strait’s two shipping lanes are only about two miles wide each, with a buffer zone between them.

The shipping terms sit inside a wider bargain. The 60-day truce would halt fighting and open a window for nuclear talks. Iran would commit not to build nuclear weapons. Negotiators would spend the two months on its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and its enrichment work. Washington would discuss sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds, and the deal would set up channels to ease the flow of goods and humanitarian aid into Iran. A broader nuclear agreement would still need further talks, Axios reported.

The calm is not assured. Iranian forces fired warning shots at four vessels near the strait this week, even as the memorandum was being finalised. Tehran says its negotiators have secured the approvals they need and are ready to sign, though it has not confirmed that publicly.

Vice President JD Vance said the two sides were very close. “We’re going back and forth on a couple of language points. We’ve made a lot of progress here,” he said. He would not promise a signed document and said the timing was still to be determined.

What A Reopened Strait Of Hormuz Means For Oil

Trump has been briefed and asked for a couple of days to decide. If the memorandum holds, tankers get a clear run through the strait and the mines come out within a month. If it slips, the most important stretch of water in the oil trade stays on edge.

Sources: Bernama | U.S. Energy Information Administration

This article was drafted by URUS AI’s editorial system and reviewed by our editorial team. Source links are provided above.