US says Hormuz reopening deal is close as Iran presses for transit tolls

What happened

• Axios reported on Friday, 7 August, that Iran's Supreme National Security Council still has to approve the text.
• Iran's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Tehran and Muscat had agreed the geographic details of the shipping route.
• The framework runs 60 days: inbound ships use the corridor nearest Iran, outbound ships the one nearest Oman, a senior official told Al Arabiya.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported progress on Tuesday; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke on Friday of a 30 to 60 day ceasefire.
• Trump left a State Department roundtable early on Friday, saying he had a war to lead.

The view from outside

The National (UAE) quotes maritime experts, including RUSI's Petras Katinas, warning that any toll would break UNCLOS "innocent passage" and let other states charge in the Turkish, Danish or Bering straits. The Guardian reports Tehran is stretching the timetable: deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told IRNA that nuclear talks would follow only two to four months after the shipping route is settled.

What could happen next

• No signing date is set; the Supreme National Security Council's approval is the last step named by the mediators.
• Iran is seeking sanctions relief in exchange for toll-free passage, sources told The National.
• Washington calls its steps "performance-based", leaving open when the blockade of Iranian ports actually ends.
• Gharibabadi's sequence, sanctions relief, unfrozen assets, non-belligerence pledges, would run past November's midterms.