Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that negotiations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz have made progress and could produce an agreement soon, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal could come by Wednesday, while President Donald Trump personally engaged Qatar’s emir in the accelerating diplomatic push.
“There’s been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet,” Rubio told reporters at the State Department. “We’re hoping that will happen very shortly.”
Rubio confirmed that the United States is involved in negotiations between Iran and Oman over increasing safe commercial passage through the strategic waterway, while emphasizing that reopening Hormuz represents the immediate objective of a broader diplomatic effort ultimately aimed at eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat.
“The denuclearization of Iran is the ultimate deal,” Rubio said. “I think the immediate deal, the one that you see a lot of focus on, is the Strait.”
“There are ships moving through the Straits. There’s oil moving right now through the Straits. The Straits are open,” he continued. “Nonetheless, I think that there’s a conversation and a negotiation that we are involved in between Oman and Iran on how more ships can be able to go through there safely in the short term as we move towards these longer-term talks about denuclearization.”
Rubio’s remarks followed an increasingly optimistic assessment earlier Tuesday from Bessent, who said the United States and Iran could reach an agreement Tuesday or Wednesday.
“We are in talks with the Iranians,” Bessent told CNBC’s Squawk Box. “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”
Bessent said any agreement would provide “freedom of movement” through the waterway, rejecting the prospect of Iran charging commercial vessels for passage. He also attributed the apparent diplomatic movement to Trump’s threat of a massive military operation against Tehran.
“We’ve seen President Trump, last week, threaten what would have been the largest military campaign since World War II against the Iranians, and now, because of that, we are in talks with the Iranians,” Bessent said.
The diplomatic activity continued at the presidential level Tuesday, when Trump spoke by phone with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani as regional mediators sought to bridge the remaining differences between Washington and Tehran.
According to the official Qatari government readout of the call, Trump and Sheikh Tamim discussed efforts to de-escalate U.S.-Iran tensions and narrow the sides’ differences in pursuit of a sustainable diplomatic resolution. Trump praised Qatar’s role in facilitating dialogue, while the Qatari leader urged continued diplomacy and adherence to the memorandum of understanding reached between Washington and Tehran in June.
Separately, Qatar said Tuesday that mediation efforts involving Doha, Oman, and Pakistan had reached “very progressive stages,” with draft language for a possible agreement being circulated between the parties.
“We are coordinating very closely with the Omanis to facilitate the talks between both sides, exchanging ideas, drafts between both sides,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told reporters Tuesday.
“Our focus right now is on avoiding escalation, reopening the Strait and reopening the door for diplomacy between the parties,” he added.
Iran and Oman have meanwhile reported progress in their own negotiations over arrangements for commercial traffic through Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tuesday that talks were proceeding positively at both the technical and political levels and were focused on establishing safe inbound and outbound shipping routes.
An Iranian official separately told Press TV that Tehran and Muscat were “about to reach an understanding” regarding a new route for safe vessel transit.
The precise terms, however, remain disputed.
Regional officials told the Associated Press that an emerging arrangement could have Gulf-bound vessels travel through a route near Iran while outbound vessels use a route near Oman, potentially accompanied by service fees. A U.S. official disputed that account, saying any temporary routes would require no Iranian approval or charges and reiterating Washington’s position that no party should control the shipping lanes or vessels’ ability to transit them.
The diplomatic momentum comes one day after Trump warned Tehran that the latest negotiations represented its “last chance” to reach an agreement after he called off a planned large-scale military operation over the weekend.
“This is a last chance,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Monday. “This is a last chance for them to sign a good document.”
Trump said the negotiations would proceed in two stages, with an immediate agreement over Hormuz followed by negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
“We’re talking about the opening of the Strait, having it open literally by tomorrow — completely open,” Trump said. “That’s phase one, and phase two is we then will talk about the nuclear… the denuclearization of Iran.”
Pressed on why he was again withholding military action, Trump said, “I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,” while stressing that the military operation remained prepared if diplomacy failed.
Iran has continued to publicly reject Trump’s characterization that direct U.S.-Iran negotiations are underway, insisting its current talks are with Oman. Baghaei said Monday that Tehran was “not negotiating with the United States at this time,” despite Trump’s insistence that discussions were already taking place.
Trump responded Monday by accusing the Iranian leadership of being “unbelievably duplicitous,” arguing that Tehran privately seeks negotiations while publicly denying them.
“They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Even as the diplomacy advances, the U.S. blockade remains in force. U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that American forces have redirected 45 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded two as part of operations enforcing the blockade against Iran.
The negotiations are also unfolding amid continued danger to commercial shipping. A cargo vessel was struck by an unknown projectile off Oman early Tuesday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, underscoring the risks in the Strait even as Washington, Tehran, and regional mediators seek an agreement to expand safe passage.
For now, Rubio said the immediate focus remains Hormuz, with a broader nuclear agreement still to come.
“They can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said. “The President’s been clear about that.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein