Iranian state media is now drawing a hard line around the Strait of Hormuz, saying a draft U.S.-Iran agreement would normalize ship traffic but would not hand Washington any role in managing the waterway.
That is the sharpest new wrinkle in the peace-deal push President Donald Trump has been touting since calling off planned strikes on Iran. Earlier coverage focused on whether a deal existed at all. The latest dispute is more specific: even if a memorandum is signed, Tehran says Hormuz control stays a regional and Iranian-led issue.
Iran rejects the idea of U.S. control
The Guardian reported that Iran’s official IRNA news agency cautioned against speculation over the draft memorandum, especially claims that Iran would surrender control of the Strait of Hormuz or restore the prewar arrangement on U.S. terms.
According to that report, IRNA said the text refers to normalizing transit through the strait after the war, ending the U.S. blockade, and removing threats to commercial shipping. But it also said the U.S. would have no future management role and that Tehran would handle the issue through a regional framework, including talks with Oman.
That matters because Hormuz is not a symbolic clause. It is the crisis’ main pressure point. The strait normally carries a major share of the world’s seaborne oil and gas trade, and its disruption has driven months of higher fuel prices, shipping reroutes, insurance pressure, and military escalation.
The reported deal still needs approval
Axios reported that the draft memorandum would extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen Hormuz without tolls, move traffic back toward prewar volumes within 30 days, and begin a new nuclear-negotiation phase. The same report said the agreement is still awaiting final approval from both sides, even as preparations were reportedly under way for a possible Geneva signing ceremony.
CBS News reported that Iranian officials continued to say Tehran had not reached a final conclusion. It also reported Iranian state-media claims that the draft leaves nuclear issues for a 60-day negotiation period, with Tehran still insisting on its position on uranium enrichment and enriched material.
Those details cut against the idea of a clean breakthrough. Trump says a settlement is close and that Vice President JD Vance could sign for the United States. Iran is signaling that the text may be advanced, but not settled, and that its red lines on Hormuz, compensation, and nuclear sovereignty remain alive.
Markets are moving before the politics are settled
Oil markets have already reacted as if the risk of a wider war has eased. MarketWatch reported that crude prices fell Friday as investors weighed conflicting reports about the possible deal and the reopening of Hormuz.
That is the danger in this moment. Traders are pricing in de-escalation, but the political text appears to mean different things to Washington and Tehran. A deal that reopens shipping while leaving Iran in practical control of the strait would be sold very differently by each side.
List25 has already covered Trump’s claim that a secret U.S. Hormuz oil operation moved large volumes through the waterway, and the separate military risk after the U.S. downed Iranian drones near the shipping lane. This update shifts the story from movement at sea to the legal and political question behind any reopening: who gets to decide what Hormuz looks like after the war?
Why this is the key sticking point
If the memorandum is signed, the first public test will be whether ships actually move through Hormuz at scale, without tolls, seizures, or military escorts. The second test will be whether Iran’s version of regional management is acceptable to the United States, Gulf states, insurers, and shipping firms.
For now, the credible read is narrow but important: a deal may be close, but Iran is publicly rejecting any interpretation that turns the Strait of Hormuz into a U.S.-managed corridor. That is a real constraint on the agreement Trump says is nearly ready.