U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a stop in India to draw a hard line on one of the world’s most important energy corridors. The Strait of Hormuz, he said, “has to be open.” Calling Iran’s disruption of the waterway “unlawful, illegal, unsustainable for the world, and unacceptable,” Rubio framed reopening the strait as a nonnegotiable piece of any settlement.
Even as he spoke, American and Iranian teams were meeting in Qatar to work through the language of a preliminary agreement. Rubio said President Donald Trump’s position had not changed: the United States wants “a good deal or no deal.” Completing a final document, he added, could still take more time.
Diplomacy has not paused the fighting. U.S. Central Command announced “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran. Capt. Tim Hawkins said the targets were missile facilities and Iranian vessels allegedly involved in efforts to seed naval mines near key maritime routes. A senior defense official said U.S. aircraft and ships operating near the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea had come under threat from Iranian surface-to-air systems. The strikes were carried out near Bandar Abbas, a major Iranian naval hub, and were described as measures to protect American personnel and assets while preserving a broader cease-fire.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran and Washington had found common ground on several issues but had not reached a final agreement. He accused the United States of shifting its positions during the talks.
Trump, for his part, said any future pact would be “good and proper,” while again attacking the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama. That earlier accord, he argued, gave Iran economic relief without a lasting guarantee that it would not pursue a nuclear weapons capability.
According to a senior U.S. official, negotiators have advanced a framework that would require Iran to eliminate its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and accept tight limits on future enrichment. In exchange, Washington would end its naval blockade and begin a phased easing of economic sanctions.
Officials say the main political questions have been settled in principle. What remains are technical details, verification rules, and enforcement. Washington’s priority is a long-term, verifiable arrangement that keeps Iran from exceeding agreed nuclear limits, with strong enforcement at the center of any deal.
The administration argues that recent military pressure has made Iran more willing to bargain. If completed, the agreement would impose stricter nuclear constraints than the 2015 accord—the outcome Trump has sought from the start.
