The agreement has not yet been signed, but oil has already become cheaper
Ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: Ali Haider / EPA
The United States and Iran have reached an “agreement in principle” providing for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed American official.
Details. The document has not yet been signed, an anonymous source told The Washington Post. According to the source, the prepared agreement includes an extension of the truce for 60 days, as well as demining and opening the Strait of Hormuz for the passage of ships.
Journalists noted that it remains unclear what exact control over the strait the Islamic republic will retain. On May 24, military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mohsen Rezaei said that Tehran has the right to manage this body of water, the Tasnim news agency reports.
Statements by the parties. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a visit to India, said that Washington expects to receive news about a deal with Iran as early as today. He also said that if an agreement cannot be reached, the United States “will have to solve the problem in another way.”
Then U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that a deal with Iran “will either be great and significant, or there will be no deal.” At the same time, a day earlier, on May 24, he said that he had instructed negotiators “not to rush into concluding an agreement.”
Tehran also reacted to Rubio’s words. Esmail Baghaei, the official spokesperson for the foreign ministry of the Islamic republic, acknowledged that progress had been made in talks with the United States, but that concluding an agreement “is not expected in the near future.”
Oil prices. Although the agreement has not yet been signed, after the NYT and WP sources’ reports, as well as Marco Rubio’s statement, oil prices fell noticeably. In particular, Brent dropped by almost 6%, to about $97 per barrel.
Context. Previously, about one fifth of all global seaborne oil shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz. At the end of February, after the start of the war by Israel and the United States against Iran, shipping through it nearly came to a halt.
At first, the Islamic republic obstructed the passage of ships through the strait, and on April 13 the American blockade of this sea route began. Against this background, oil prices did not fall below $100 per barrel for several months.
There is currently a ceasefire in effect between the United States and Iran. The first round of negotiations, held on April 11 in Islamabad, produced no result. Washington’s main demand is to limit the nuclear program and abandon the development of nuclear weapons. Tehran is not prepared to agree to this.
The current reports about a possible unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz are not the first since the start of the war. Thus, in early May, Al Arabiya reported that the parties had agreed to ease the blockade in exchange for the phased opening of the Strait of Hormuz