Iran and United States, no negotiations underway: naval blockade on Iranian ports remains
Trump rules out talks with Tehran and confirms the measures on maritime traffic. The dispute over the status of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran claims as its own, remains open. A report on U.S. pressure toward Oman currently rests on a single source.
This analysis does not concern the story opened by the morning edition — Chad’s notification to the United Nations on its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, which remains published — but a separate dossier: the confrontation between Washington and Tehran over maritime traffic in the Gulf.
On August 18, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump ruled out the existence of a negotiating channel with Iran, speaking of “no talks or conversations underway, nor planned” (transl. from English), according to the roundup by Just Security which cites the AP News dispatch. On the same occasion he confirmed that the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports remains fully operational, stating that sea mines have been removed and that the rest of the traffic can pass through. The following day he said that the Strait of Hormuz is open and functioning; Iranian officials, according to Fox News Digital’s live coverage, were instead described as disappointed by how the matter has developed.
The point of friction is not only military, but legal. On August 14, Trump had announced his intention to declare the Strait of Hormuz “territory” of the United States, as reported by Al Jazeera. The Iranian response came from Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, in a message posted on the X platform and picked up by CNBC: “The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian” (transl. from English). Tehran maintains that the opening or closing of the passage depends exclusively on an Iranian decision.
The two positions are formally incompatible: on one side, the announcement of U.S. sovereignty over the passage; on the other, Iran’s claim of exclusive control over its opening and closing. The U.S. claim, as announced, has not so far been translated into a published legal act; the available sources report the intention, not a measure.
On Oman’s role the picture is more uncertain and must be stated as such. According to two regional officials cited by Just Security, Trump allegedly threatened to bomb the sultanate because it opposed an agreement being worked out between Muscat and Tehran on managing traffic in the strait. This is a weighty claim that currently comes from a single source (Just Security, which cites two anonymous officials); no independent confirmation is available, and no public statements from the Omani government appear in the material consulted. Pending verification, it remains an attributed report, not an established fact.
What concretely changes. If the blockade remains in force under the announced terms, maritime exports from Iranian ports continue to depend on case-by-case U.S. decisions, while general transit through the strait is described as regular by both sides, albeit with opposing justifications. The absence of a declared negotiating channel means that there is currently no forum in which the dispute over the passage’s status can be addressed: positions circulate through public statements and social media posts. The next verifiable element will be the possible publication of a formal U.S. act on Hormuz, which today has only been announced.
Sources: Just Security; Fox News Digital; CNBC; Al Jazeera.
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