On September 13, 2026, a fuel tanker carrying Iraqi oil arrives at a coastal storage facility at the Baniyas oil terminal in Syria’s Tartus province.
Hasan Belal | Anadolu | Getty Images
Local media reported that Iran was negotiating with the United States through Qatari intermediaries in New York, offering terms to end the seven-month war on all fronts.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said Tehran’s conditions include an end to U.S. “acts of aggression,” an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets.
The proposal laid out specific details aimed at restoring traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of the world’s prewar oil and gas traffic, and revived fragile hopes for a diplomatic exit from the seven-month war.
Separately, a senior Iranian official said Iran could reopen the strait within a week if the United States eases military pressure and lifts the blockade of Iranian ports.
After President Donald Trump said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that he had to choose between a deal and more aggressive military action, he told reporters that U.S. officials had a “very good” three-hour meeting with Iranian envoys on the sidelines.
“Are we going to make a deal with Iran? Or are we going to annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it right away?” Trump said on Tuesday. He called on all countries to “enforce Iran’s complete economic isolation.”
President Trump also said he expected a deal to be reached after the November midterm elections. “I believe that we will reach an agreement soon after the election, because there is no point in not agreeing,” he said. “They’re watching to see how I do in the midterm elections.”
Transport through Hormuz remains well below normal. According to Kupler, the amount of confirmed water passing through the strait averaged 6.98 million barrels per day in the seven days ending Sept. 20. This is approximately 38% of the prewar standard of 18.3 million barrels.
Iran’s own oil exports have dried up as the US has renewed its naval blockade. Crude oil loadings fell from 893,000 barrels per day in July to zero so far in September, according to Kpler.
The strait is “increasingly becoming a shuttle corridor under Saudi control,” the Maritime Research Institute said on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia has been shifting exports to the Gulf Coast since Houthi attacks halted shipments on the East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu earlier this month.
An interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran collapsed in July, weeks after it was signed, but neither side has said when the next round of talks will take place.
Oil prices are falling due to expectations for diplomatic opening. International benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.9% to $98.37 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.5% to $89.16 per barrel.
