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The US and Iran on Sunday agreed to a weeklong de-escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, cooling tensions just in time for Fourth of July celebrations.
The agreement aimed to keep things quiet for US and Iran technical teams negotiating indirectly with one another in Qatar, a US official confirmed to The Post.
The deal has the added benefit of taking down the temperature as the US prepares for America’s 250th birthday and Iran holds funeral ceremonies for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Friday, Saturday and Monday.
The temporary calm comes even as Washington and Tehran remain locked in a fresh dispute over who ultimately controls shipping through the strategic waterway.
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Conflict in the Strait ratcheted up after Iran struck a ship sailing near Oman last week and the US retaliated with fresh attacks on Iranian missile and drone storage locations along the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has continued to insist it has the authority to regulate traffic through the Strait and has demanded the right to impose transit fees after the current interim arrangements expire, while the Trump administration has rejected any Iranian claim over what it says is an international waterway.
Those competing philosophies have emerged as one of the biggest sticking points in the broader negotiations, with US officials pressing Tehran to abandon its demands in exchange for the economic benefits of a wider agreement.
The US-Iran memorandum of understanding states that Iran will work with Oman to “define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussions with other Persian Gulf Littoral States,” but Tehran and Washington have differing interpretations on what that means.
While senior American officials have said that point in the MOU prevents Iran from charging fees because the Gulf countries would never allow it, Iran sees the passage more as a general suggestion that they talk with relevant parties — and that the strait is recognized as its sovereign waters.
“In the final moments of the negotiations, the text of the memorandum of understanding was amended to clearly and explicitly emphasize the issue of the Iranian-Omani sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz,” IRGC-affiliated Fars News reported Monday, citing the unidentified source.
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“The use of the term ‘maritime services’ means that the United States has accepted that fees will be paid to Iran,” it added.
But American officials — including President Trump — have flatly rejected the notion of Tehran collecting any tolls or fees to access the strait, as had been the case before the war began Feb. 28.
Despite the current calm, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran “would not back down” from its view of the strait “even if it led to renewed — and intensified — confrontation with the US.”
“Iran is ready to impose its demands on the Strait through force if there is no agreement by other countries to accept its terms,” the Iranian official said.
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