Iran, Oman make progress on Hormuz Strait reopening deal

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A US official said Iran and Oman have made progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz and could reach an agreement soon. The official said the United States would lift its blockade of Iranian ports once a deal permitting commercial shipping is announced. Before the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, roughly one in every five barrels of oil consumed worldwide transited the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions to oil shipments amid the escalating conflict have pushed up energy prices and fueled inflation. The Trump administration has signaled in recent weeks that an agreement to reopen the strait was close, while Iran denied it was conducting negotiations. It remained unclear whether the latest intensive round of talks would produce a more durable arrangement. Iran's attacks on vessels in the strait have coincided with intensifying Houthi strikes on the oil choke point between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in Yemen. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the United Arab Emirates' largest energy firms, said on Friday that 15 of its vessels transiting the strait since the conflict began had been targeted, with one crew member killed and 20 injured. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defense pact in Mecca amid the widening regional war and reports that Iranian missiles had reached oil exporters in the Gulf. The three countries said the agreement, signed among US-allied parties, aims to strengthen collective deterrence by treating an armed attack on any of them as an attack on all three.