U.S., Iran stall on Hormuz reopening as oil supplies tighten

Iran said transit through the critical Strait of Hormuz will flow once the conflict with the US and Israel is over, but the sides are no closer to resolving their differences or finding a path to achieve it. President Donald Trump returned from a two-day summit with Iran’s close ally, China’s Xi Jinping, where both agreed the strait should be open but made no apparent progress toward that goal. Iran has shown little interest in loosening its hold on the waterway, insisting it wants to maintain a degree of control even after the end of the war. Iran’s threats on ships in the Persian Gulf have brought exports from the oil-rich region to a near-standstill, sending energy prices soaring and giving Tehran significant leverage in talks with the US. “Naturally, once the current state of insecurity is resolved, navigation conditions in the Strait of Hormuz will return to normal,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was cited as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Iran will implement effective and professional monitoring and control mechanisms in the Strait of Hormuz within the framework of international law, Pezeshkian said without elaborating. He added Iran remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday that the strait should be opened to shipping as soon as possible, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency. In response to Iran’s disruption of shipping movements, the US imposed a blockade on the Islamic Republic’s oil exports, in an effort to sever its economic lifeline and persuade its officials to agree to US terms for a peace deal. The statement from China came as the world’s two largest economies sought to emphasize points of agreement on the Middle East conflict during Trump’s meetings with President Xi Jinping this week — even as they’re essentially on opposite sides, with China repeatedly criticizing the US-Israeli attack on its Iranian ally. On his way back from China, Trump also told reporters