Tehran denies talks with US, as Gulf official says 50-50 chance of Iran-Oman deal on strait by Friday

A ship is seen near the port of Aden, where Houthi forces have carried out missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil tankers, in Aden, Yemen, on July 23.

Yemen’s Houthis said Wednesday they targeted the Saudi oil tanker Daisy in the Gulf of Aden with a ballistic missile, claiming they struck the vessel and forced it to change course and turn back.

In a statement, the militant group said the attack was carried out “successfully” and resulted in a direct hit on the tanker. The claim could not be independently verified.

According to the statement, the operation was conducted as part of efforts to enforce a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia under what the group described as the “siege for siege” equation, a reference to its stated policy of responding to blockades imposed on Yemen.

The Houthi armed forces further said they are closely monitoring the movements of Saudi oil tankers and warned that they would not allow such vessels to sail through maritime routes from either the southern Red Sea or northern approaches until what they described as the legitimate demands of the Yemeni people are met and the blockade on Yemen is lifted.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities regarding the claim.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said it received a report of an incident earlier Wednesday involving a loud explosion in close proximity of a tanker 95 nautical miles southeast of Aden, Yemen. The incident was reported at 2:30 p.m. UTC (10:30 a.m. ET). Crew members are all accounted for and safe, no environmental impact was reported, and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said. It is unclear whether this is the same vessel the Houthis claimed to have attacked.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visits the Imam Ali shrine in Iraq's holy city of Najaf on August 3.

Iran and Oman are close to finalizing a proposed framework for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s deputy foreign minister. However, it still wouldn’t automatically reopen the critical waterway.

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CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Aida Karimi, Jennifer Hansler, Christian Edwards, Charbel Mallo, Tim Lister, Sana Noor Haq and Anna Cooban contributed reporting.

MarineTraffic data shows at least 10 commercial ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the last 24 hours, amid ongoing talks about fully reopening the critical waterway. Seven cargo ships moved into the Persian Gulf, while three vessels departed into the Gulf of Oman.

Farther southwest, at least 19 commercial ships transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait over the same period. Ten vessels entered the Red Sea — six cargo ships and four tankers — while nine left into the Gulf of Aden, consisting of six cargo ships and three tankers.

Traffic through both chokepoints has stayed consistent with the depressed transit levels recorded over recent weeks. GPS spoofing also remains heavy across the region — a type of navigational interference that makes ships’ broadcast positions show up in the wrong places.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian takes questions from the media during a news conference in New York in September.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran continues to face mounting pressure from sanctions and conflict, describing the current period as the most difficult since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In an interview Wednesday with state-run media on the second anniversary of his inauguration, Pezeshkian said sanctions have steadily intensified and were followed by military confrontation. He spoke amid efforts to revive diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.

“The circumstances we face now are the toughest possible conditions in the history since the revolution,” Pezeshkian told the official Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). “Sanctions existed, and they increased. Then, they sanctioned our banks and our financial operations. Not satisfied with this, they launched a war. Still dissatisfied, they tried to corner us.”

The Iranian president said in the televised interview that external pressure was intended to weaken public support for the government.

“Now all the plans they are drawing and the pressures they are exerting are to displease the people and, as they say, provoke them to protest,” he claimed.

Pezeshkian also said that national unity has enabled Iran to withstand the pressure. “If we have survived to this day, it’s thanks to the noble people of Iran,” he said.

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Monday, August 3.

Iran and Oman are close to finalizing a proposed framework for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but the agreement would not automatically reopen the waterway, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

The ongoing talks between Iran and Oman are critically important because they could lead to the full reopening of the world’s most critical energy chokepoint.

Gharibabadi said negotiations have continued for more than three weeks and produced broad agreement on proposed inbound and outbound shipping routes. The talks also covered technical arrangements, the security and sovereignty of Iran and Oman, and a proposed joint coordination center to manage maritime traffic and collect information from vessels.

Under the proposed arrangement, temporary routes near Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz and through Omani territorial waters would close.

Parts of the new inbound and outbound corridors would pass through Iranian waters, marking a departure from a decades-old system under which commercial traffic traveled through Omani waters, Gharibabadi said.

The proposed route would initially operate for two to four months or possibly longer, according to Gharibabadi. Its implementation would require a separate decision by Iran’s senior leadership.

“This understanding does not, in itself, mean that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen,” he said, adding that reopening remains subject to specific preconditions.

CNN has reached out to the government of Oman for comment on the details shared by the Iranian official.

Gharibabadi said those conditions largely concerned the United States, which he accused of reinstating a naval blockade, resuming hostilities and reimposing sanctions. The US has said it resumed strikes after Iran fired on vessels transiting the strait.

Iran views US compliance with commitments under a June memorandum of understanding as necessary, but not sufficient, for reopening the strait, Gharibabadi said. Tehran would also require assurances intended to prevent further breaches, he said.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stands to speak at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on February 23.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Wednesday that Iran is currently negotiating with the US over the Strait of Hormuz. He described discussions with Oman as strictly bilateral.

“The US claim that negotiations with Iran are currently underway is false,” he told Iranian official media in a televised interview. “There have been no negotiations.”

Gharibabadi acknowledged that Tehran has received US messages expressing readiness to return to previous commitments, but he said Iran has not decided whether to proceed to a second phase that could lead to implementating a US-Iranian memorandum of understanding.

President Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened “soon” or he would launch a harsh new attack on Iran.

Speaking in an interview on Fox News, Trump said “very good discussions” were underway with Tehran, but he warned that if Iran backs out of its commitments, he would return to strikes.

Smoke rises above southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel on Wednesday.

US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon ended earlier than expected on Wednesday amid renewed Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.

A US State Department official said the discussions in Rome concluded early, at 3:30pm local time, “due to events on the ground.”

Another source said Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter “asked the American side to suspend the talks approximately three hours before their scheduled conclusion, following repeated misleading leaks by the Lebanese delegation.” They did not elaborate on what the “misleading leaks” were.

A Lebanese diplomatic source said the US delegation requested a suspension of negotiations “to conduct its own consultations.”

All of the sources confirmed that the talks are expected to resume Thursday morning, but the Lebanese diplomatic source noted that “significant developments on the ground” could prevent the resumption of the delicate technical negotiations. This source said that contacts are ongoing to de-escalate the situation.

The US State Department official said the “discussions focused on a range of political and military issues and were extremely productive.”

“The technical teams made progress on determining key details on implementation of the Trilateral Framework,” the official said, referring to an agreement signed in June by Israel, Lebanon and the United States and aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

The Israeli army ordered residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri to leave on Wednesday afternoon. It later said it had begun carrying out “precise strikes” against Hezbollah targets in the area in response to a “complete violation of the ceasefire.”

Kara Fox, Dani Karni, and Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting.

Vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz from Musandam, Oman, on July 31, 2026.

Iran and Oman have agreed on the geographical coordinates of a proposed safe shipping route for commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Wednesday.

The two countries have held talks over the past two months covering the technical, legal, security and environmental aspects of the proposed route, Baghaei said in response to questions about the talks.

Baghaei described the negotiations as “professional” and “progressing,” adding that a joint statement setting out the main points of agreement is being reviewed and finalized.

“Provided that certain third parties do not obstruct the process, the joint statement of the two countries, including the principal considerations and points of agreement, is also in the final stage of review and drafting,” he said.

Baghaei blamed the closure of the strait on the US and Israeli attack on Iran. He said an agreement between Iran and Oman alone could not guarantee safe passage while a US naval blockade and “other aggressive and threatening actions” remain in place.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani stressed “the need for all parties to remain committed to dialogue and diplomacy and to implement what was agreed upon within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding” between the US and Iran, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The agreement should ensure “freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, preserving regional security, safeguarding the gains achieved, and strengthening regional stability,” Al Thani added.

Israel issued its first evacuation order in southern Lebanon since June and launched fresh strikes in the area, underlining the fragility of a ceasefire between the two countries, as well as concerns that the move could reopen a front in Israel’s broader conflict with Iran.

It comes as Lebanese and Israeli officials are meeting for talks in Rome this week to cement the terms of the June ceasefire — and Iran could reach a deal on the Strait of Hormuz by Friday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri to leave on Wednesday afternoon, later saying that it had begun carrying out what it described as “precise strikes” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to a “complete violation of the ceasefire.”

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes launched two air raids on the outskirts of Mansouri, south of Tyre, which coincided with shelling outside the town of Majdal Zoun. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said one person was killed and 12 others were injured in an airstrike on the area of Tebnin.

During the war between Israel and Hezbollah, evacuation warnings for communities in southern Lebanon became a near-daily occurrence as Israeli forces targeted the area. Wednesday’s evacuation order is the first from the IDF since June 10 and since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect.

Under the June 27 ceasefire agreement, Israel said it would withdraw from two areas in southern Lebanon, transferring the sites to the Lebanese military.

The latest negotiations, which Iranian-backed Hezbollah opposes, are expected to wrap up in Rome on Thursday. It is the seventh round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon.

Houthis brandish their weapons as they rally in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on March 27.

A vessel sank after it was attacked in the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center reported.

UKMTO did not name the ship or state who was responsible for the attack, but the Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly threatened to disrupt shipping through the strait, a key chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea.

Here’s a closer look at the Houthis:

Who they are

The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), is one side of the Yemeni civil war. It emerged in the 1990s, when its leader, Hussein al-Houthi, launched “Believing Youth,” a religious revival movement for a centuries-old subsect of Shiite Islam called Zaidism.

The Zaidis ruled Yemen for centuries but were marginalized under the Sunni regime that came to power after the 1962 civil war. Al-Houthi’s movement was founded to represent Zaidis and resist radical Sunnism, particularly Wahhabi ideas from Saudi Arabia. His closest followers became known as Houthis.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when Houthi forces stormed the capital, Sanaa, and toppled the internationally recognized and Saudi-backed government. The conflict spiraled into a wider war in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition intervened in an attempt to beat back the Houthis.

A ceasefire was signed in 2022, but it lapsed just after six months. Warring parties have not returned to full-scale conflict, though in July, fighting between the Saudis and the Houthis was renewed.

Houthis’ allies

The Houthis are backed by Iran, which began increasing its aid to the group in 2014 as the civil war escalated and as its rivalry with Saudi Arabia intensified. Iran has provided the group with weapons and technology for, among other things, sea mines, ballistic and cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a 2021 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Houthis form part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance” — an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias backed by the Islamic Republic.

How powerful is the group?

American officials have been tracking iterative improvements in the range, accuracy and lethality of the Houthis’ domestically produced missiles. Initially, home-grown Houthi weapons were largely assembled with Iranian components smuggled into Yemen in pieces, an official familiar with US intelligence told CNN previously.

They have previously used drones and anti-ship missiles to target commercial ships — some of which aren’t believed to be linked to Israel — prompting the USS Carney, a warship in the Red Sea, to respond to distress calls.

CNN’s Billy Stockwell contributed to this report.