Iran official says Strait of Hormuz, not nuclear issue, now at center of talks

The shift comes as Iran's parliament weighs quitting the nuclear inspections framework and a sequencing dispute over commitments stalls talks.

Iran's deputy chairman of the National Security Committee said the nuclear issue is no longer the central focus of negotiations, with the Strait of Hormuz now at the center. The same official has also said the United States must accept Iran's terms before talks can proceed.

The comments follow weeks of deadlock over sequencing, with Iran proposing to delay its nuclear commitments until after the first phase of any deal, according to Al Jazeera. The dispute centers on which side gives up leverage first.

Iran's parliament is separately weighing a bill to exit the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which would abandon the inspections framework Washington has demanded. The US has been pressing Iran to honor a Swiss-brokered pledge on IAEA inspector access, even as US officials described the mediated talks to CNN as positive and constructive, a softer tone than other accounts.

Tension around the strait itself has already surfaced this week: an explosion was heard near Iran's Qeshm Island, with the sound appearing to come from the sea near the strait, though no damage was found, according to IRNA. Iraq's Hezbollah has also threatened to close border crossings with countries enforcing an Iran air embargo if it continues past October 1, according to IRIB.

Moving the stated focus from nuclear terms to the strait suggests Tehran now treats shipping access as leverage rather than a side issue, a harder line than the sequencing dispute that has stalled talks for weeks. That raises the stakes for any disruption to transit through the strait, a risk that has been sustaining, and could deepen, the premium built into crude prices rather than easing the standoff.