Iran Sets Seven Conditions to Reopen Hormuz as Trump Says War Is Ending

Iran said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets its seven conditions for reopening the waterway, even as President Donald Trump said the war with Iran was effectively over and could end fairly soon. Tehran has said it could reopen the strait, the vital energy conduit it has blockaded since the conflict began in late February, within two days if Washington agrees, with the conditions including an end to the war on all fronts, the unfreezing of Iranian assets, the lifting of oil sanctions and an end to the American counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iran's IRNA news agency that the conflict would not be resolved through military means or by intensifying sanctions, and that the only solution was diplomacy and addressing Iran's demands. Trump, speaking after meeting Qatar's prime minister at the White House on Monday, said further US military action does not seem to be a very necessary thing but warned Washington was locked and loaded. Secretary of State Marco Rubio added on Tuesday that he saw no need to resume major combat operations because sanctions and other restrictions were working so effectively. Qatar's prime minister described his talks with Trump as positive, and Qatar and Pakistan are leading the mediation effort, though Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei dismissed reports of ongoing negotiations or a planned meeting in Qatar as pure lies.

The standoff is already moving markets and the region. Brent crude fell below $90 a barrel for the first time in nearly three months after Trump's remarks, while the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted Houthi missiles fired toward Riyadh and another aimed at the south of the kingdom. Gulf states also approved a joint military command based in Kuwait, and in Washington Republican congressman Thomas Massie moved to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said the mission in Iran was still not complete, underlining how fragile the calm remains.