Iran signals Hormuz reopening: ‘Shipping traffic will return to pre war levels within…’

Iran said on Sunday that the number of ships able to transit the Strait of Hormuz would return to pre-war levels within 30 days, according to semi-official news agency Tasnim. The Iranian authorities have said shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is expected to recover to levels seen before the outbreak of the conflict on February 28.

Since the war began in February, shipping through Hormuz has fallen sharply as Iran imposed restrictions on vessel movements and asserted greater control over the strategic waterway. Before the conflict, about 125-140 ships transited the strait daily, but traffic collapsed after the outbreak of hostilities.

At the same time, the United States imposed a naval blockade targeting ships travelling to and from Iranian ports, turning back multiple vessels and disrupting Iranian oil exports.

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Earlier this afternoon, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in India on a four-day visit, hinted that a breakthrough could be imminent in negotiations with Iran and good news is expected on the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking during a joint press conference with EAM S Jaishankar, Rubio said the world could receive “good news” on the strategic waterway within hours, while cautioning that negotiations were not yet complete.

“Suffice it to say that some progress has been made – significant progress, although not final progress has been made,” Rubio said.

The US Secretary of State said discussions over the past 48 hours had produced the outline of a possible agreement. “We’ve made some progress over the last 48 hours working with our partners in the Gulf region on an outline that could ultimately, if it succeeds, leave us not just with a completely open Strait (Hormuz), and I mean open strait without tolls, and with addressing some of the key things that underpin what has been Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions in the past.”

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Rubio stressed that any arrangement would still require Iranian approval and implementation. “Obviously, that will require full Iranian acceptance and then compliance and it will require some future work on negotiating the details.”

He also suggested that further developments could emerge later in the day. “I do think perhaps there is the possibility that over the next few hours the world will get some good news at least with regards to the Strait (Hormuz).”

US President Donald Trump announced earlier today that Washington and Tehran were close to finalising a deal aimed at ending the Iran war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the emerging agreement would reopen the waterway, which has been at the centre of a global energy crisis since the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran in February. 

“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump wrote.