Iran says it could open the Strait of Hormuz on the sixth day after Washington meets Tehran’s conditions, keeping a vital oil route’s future tied to an unresolved U.S.-Iran dispute.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Oct. 18 that Tehran was preparing a reply to U.S. comments on its seven-day plan. Iran sent the proposal through Qatar, he said. It calls for normal passage to be restored within seven days and negotiations to begin on day seven. No start date has been agreed.
Oil shipments through Hormuz have risen despite the dispute. The International Energy Agency (IEA) measured flows at 10.9 million barrels per day in September, an increase of 3.7 million barrels per day from August.
The IEA said disrupted Middle East exports, combined with reduced supply from Russia and some Asian countries, had tightened diesel availability. High freight rates have also made delivered crude more expensive for refiners, while rising diesel prices have increased costs for consumers, the agency said.
Iran has sought an end to the U.S. naval blockade and the release of frozen Iranian assets. Araqchi has said nuclear issues should be addressed later. In an interview with Press TV on Oct. 11, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington had accepted some of Tehran’s seven conditions but that its response fell short overall. U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Reuters in an Oct. 5 interview that an agreement would require a meaningful reduction in Iran’s uranium-enrichment capacity.
A memorandum of understanding signed by the United States and Iran on June 17 included an Iranian commitment to arrange safe passage for commercial vessels. The White House says subsequent Iranian attacks on vessels were inconsistent with the memorandum. Araqchi says later U.S. measures and military action prevented it from being implemented.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that two unidentified projectiles hit a tug northeast of Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates on Oct. 18. The vessel was damaged and one person sustained a minor injury. UKMTO did not identify who fired the projectiles.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s next short-term energy outlook is scheduled for Nov. 10.
