US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that there has been progress made in discussions with Iran and Oman on getting more ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but no final agreement has been reached.
"There's been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We're hoping that will happen very shortly," Rubio told reporters at the State Department.
A source allegedly told Saudi state-owned news outlet Al-Arabiya that a deal regarding the Strait of Hormuz is close to being announced. The source claimed that the announcement could be issued within the coming hours or days.
Qatar, Pakistan working with Oman to get US-Iran negotiations on track
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Qatar and Pakistan are working with Oman to facilitate communication between Iran and the US.
Advisor to Qatar’s Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, said during a briefing on Tuesday that the goal of the regional effort is to soothe tensions enough to allow for direct US-Iran dialogue to continue.
Ansari said that the mediating countries hope that their efforts will “yield positive results in the near future.”
Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, Ansari noted that Qatar’s aim is, at minimum, the restore commercial shipping traffic through the waterway to what it was like before the outbreak of war in February.