Iran to Draw Up Formal List of Demands Before Reopening Strait of Hormuz

Since Iran's parliament advanced a bill this week criminalizing contact with foreign media, Tehran has kept up a separate, louder fight over the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, announced that mediators have asked Iran to formally spell out its conditions for reopening the waterway, and that he's compiling that list now, according to Al Jazeera.

Top of it: an end to the broader regional war, including operations tied to Lebanon and Gaza. That's a wider ask than Iran's previous demands, which centered on lifting the U.S. naval blockade, removing sanctions and paying compensation for war damage, according to Al Jazeera and CBS News.

Rezaei told the state-run IRNA news agency that "the US must first take practical steps to fulfil Iran's conditions, and then Iran will proceed to open the Strait of Hormuz." A spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that Tehran won't budge until Washington lifts the port blockade, pays war compensation and removes sanctions, according to Al Jazeera.

A Parade of Mediators, No Breakthrough

Qatar's prime minister met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday, the third mediating government to visit in a week, after delegations from Pakistan and Oman, according to Al Jazeera. Qatar's Foreign Ministry said the talks covered a temporary corridor through the strait and a joint mine-clearing project.

Weeks of quiet Iran-Oman negotiation preceded this. Rezaei said Iran and Oman have already agreed on a corridor running partly through Omani and partly through Iranian waters, with ships routed through a middle channel if Washington meets Iran's conditions, according to Al Jazeera. Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, said he was "hopeful" a temporary route would be announced "soon," according to a CBS News report carried by 5news.com.br. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has separately said it reached a revenue-sharing agreement with Oman over the strait's waters, though Iran's and Oman's foreign ministries have not confirmed fee terms, according to Insurance Journal.

Crypto Briefing reports formal talks on a permanent version of the corridor arrangement are expected within the next 30 to 60 days, though even the temporary version depends entirely on U.S. action Washington hasn't taken.

Trump Says It's Open. Ships Disagree.

President Trump maintains the strait is already functioning. He told Al Jazeera on Wednesday he's "not in a hurry" to restart negotiations: "I have no time schedule, none." He's previously claimed U.S. forces cleared all mines and that millions of barrels of oil are moving through daily, a claim Insurance Journal notes conflicts with the International Maritime Organization, whose head said last week there's no confirmation mines have been removed.

Despite Trump's claims, ships have largely stayed away. U.S. Central Command says 75 ships heading into or out of Iranian ports have now been redirected by the naval blockade, up from 71 as of Monday, according to CBS News.

On Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran is "begging to make a deal," firing back at a Fox News report suggesting otherwise. Earlier that day he told reporters his administration is "not looking to meet" with Tehran, arguing the blockade and sanctions have already inflicted serious economic damage.

The China Sanctions Question

When a reporter asked Trump Thursday whether the U.S. would sanction Chinese banks that keep doing business with Iran, he responded, "Who says I'm not?" and declined to confirm or deny any action, saying, "I don't have to announce everything, do I?"

China is Iran's largest trade partner and has called U.S. sanctions on that trade "illegal" and "unilateral," saying it won't enforce them, according to CBS News. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week China should "get with the program." No formal U.S. sanctions action against Chinese banks has been announced as of Thursday.

Gulf States Are Hedging Their Bets

Separate from the Hormuz talks, Pakistan's military announced Thursday it will help train and build capacity for Kuwait's military, signed during a visit by Kuwait's defense minister to Rawalpindi. That follows Saudi Arabia's mutual defense pact with Pakistan and Turkey earlier in August, according to CBS News, a sign Gulf states that have long depended on American security guarantees are lining up backup options while the U.S.-Iran standoff drags on.

Iran's list of demands keeps growing rather than shrinking, now reportedly reaching beyond the strait itself into Lebanon and Gaza. That makes a near-term deal look less likely, not more. But Iran's IRGC and foreign ministry have said consistently for months that any strait reopening requires the U.S. to reverse the blockade and sanctions first, so an expanded list tracks with a regime under sustained economic pressure trying to extract maximum concessions before it makes any concrete move.

It remains unclear whether Rezaei's forthcoming written demands narrow the gap with Washington or just formalize a maximalist position neither side expects the other to accept. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said earlier this month that a deal with Oman "does not mean the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened." Nothing since has changed that math.