Mediators push to break US-Iran deadlock as deadline passes
Iran's own Tuesday deadline for a US reply on reopening the Strait of Hormuz has passed without an answer, the Financial Times reports.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Mediators are working to break the deadlock between the United States and Iran, the Financial Times reports, as talks remain stalled. Qatari channels are said to be the main route for the effort.
The core dispute has not moved. Iran says it is awaiting a US response to a seven-point plan sent via Qatar, and Tehran continues to link any nuclear talks to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending what it calls a US blockade. A deadline Iran set for a US reply on the strait passed on Tuesday with no answer given.
The standoff has already cut Iran's oil exports. President Trump has said Iran is "failing very badly" and that the nuclear issue will be over "very soon," adding that oil prices will fall. A US official has separately called the odds of a deal "extremely slim," and Iranian officials have voiced their own doubts that any agreement can be reached before the US midterm elections.
The mediation push is another turn in a cycle that has run since late September, with deadlines repeatedly slipping and no breakthrough. It changes nothing about the operational picture on shipping or exports, so the standoff and the risk premium built into oil prices stay where they have sat for weeks.