WSJ: Hormuz deal allows merchant ships to enter Persian Gulf via Iran

The agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, which was proposed to Iran, allows all merchant ships to enter the Persian Gulf through the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic. This was reported by TASS, citing The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

According to the WSJ, Tehran was offered a deal under which ships would enter the Persian Gulf through a corridor off the coast of Iran and exit via a route through Omani territorial waters, with no tolls for exiting the Persian Gulf.

According to the publication, Iranian representatives requested the right to collect tolls for the passage of ships, as well as guarantees of non-resumption of attacks, the lifting of the US naval blockade, and the easing of sanctions on Iranian oil. The US and Middle Eastern countries, the newspaper writes, rejected the demand for a meeting and want guarantees of no threats from Tehran.

According to the Wall Street Journal, some representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told mediators that Tehran would not accept a deal without Iran's right to control the Strait, and that Tehran was prepared to wage war for months if necessary.

If the mediators succeed in reaching an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, the next step would be to restore the memorandum of understanding. Pakistan is noted to have offered to host a new round of Iranian-American talks.

On August 2, US President Donald Trump announced in Truth Social that he had agreed to cancel a planned major strike on Iran in order to reach a deal with Tehran. He stated that Iran and Middle Eastern countries had asked Washington to refrain from attacking because the parties had agreed on the outlines of a future agreement. This agreement should include the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the elimination of the Iranian nuclear threat. On August 4, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid bin Mohammed al-Ansari stated that Washington and Tehran were exchanging draft agreements through intermediaries, but no direct negotiations were planned yet.