Iran says reopening Strait of Hormuz requires US concessions

Iran and Oman are reportedly very close to finalising an agreement on a proposed temporary maritime transit route in the Strait of Hormuz. The developments follows continuous clashes at sea that disrupted global shipping lanes after Iran effectively choked off the strait's passage in late February.

However, senior Iranian figures maintain the strategic waterway would not fully reopen without major concessions from the US.

Iran's Mehr News Agency on Saturday released an undated 12-second clip of the country's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamanei for the first time on social media platform Telegram.

Mojtaba Khamenei, who has been out of public eye since his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated in the US-Israeli strike in February, appeared to be talking to people surrounding him in the rare footage.

A report by the official news agency IRNA indicates a deal between Iran and Oman is "very close" regarding a temporary route for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the Hormuz talks were held between the two sides' military and naval forces based on available maps, and that the temporary route would serve as the basis for the main permanent route to be designated later.

He pointed to other conditions that would need to be met to fully reopen the strait, chiefly demanding Washington to compensate Tehran for its violation of a peace memorandum of understanding signed in June.

Speaking in Bandar Abbas, a Revolutionary Guard official insists the reopening is entirely decoupled from the Omani talks, and hinges on the "extent to which the United States accepts the conditions determined" by Tehran.

He says the channel will remain blocked until the US lifts its naval blockade and economic sanctions.

The Strait of Hormuz is not merely a waterway for Iran, the official states, "Rather, it is a capability and a source of power that the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses by virtue of its geography and it will make use of that geography."

Oman's foreign ministry depicts their ongoing negotiations as "positive and constructive," while simultaneously issuing a stern warning of repeated attacks on vessels, including a recent missile strike on a vessel belonging to the United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi National Oil Company that transited the strait.

Also on Saturday, Iran shows off on social media the wreckage of some of the US and Israeli warplanes they brought down in recent months.

State-run Press TV claims a US F-15 fighter jet and several drones were shot down by Iranian air defence systems.

This as the US Central Command announces it has redirected 53 commercial vessels, disabled 2 and boarded 2 as part of its blockade against Iran.

US Vice President JD Vance reveals progress on Iran talks over the past few days in an interview with Fox News, saying the US is still in "middle of the game" and expects oil and gas supplies from the Gulf region to remain at pre-conflict levels.

Vance notes Washington is working on setting up a traffic scheme including demining to ensure the safe passage and seeks Tehran to commit to not firing on commercial vessels.