Iran's six conditions

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr announced on August 8, 2026, six conditions the US must meet before Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking on Iranian state network IRIB, Zolghadr demanded that Washington permanently end the war against Iran and its allies (Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq), lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdraw American naval and air forces from the region, pay compensation for damages from the 2025 and 2026 wars without any reduction, lift all sanctions, and unconditionally release frozen Iranian assets. He also demanded that the US never again threaten Iran or insult what he called the nation's "sacred values."

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will never back down, whether in war or in negotiations.”

The council, dominated by hardliners and reporting to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, is reviewing a draft agreement between Iran and Oman on new shipping lanes through the strait. Zolghadr is also a commander of the Revolutionary Guards. He said these demands have been shouted by the Iranian people in streets and squares for 160 days.

Diplomatic channels and the Oman track

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on August 9 that Iran will not begin direct talks with the US as long as Washington violates the transitional agreement signed in June, though messages are being exchanged through mediators. Araghchi told Mehr news agency that an agreement with Oman on a new shipping route is in its "final stages" but will not by itself reopen the strategic waterway. He said the agreement will determine new navigation routes to be used immediately after the US fulfills other terms. Technical and legal issues around a permanent route have been resolved, he added, while a temporary route is under discussion.

Oman described the ongoing talks as "positive and constructive" and warned about attacks targeting ships in the strait. The UAE separately reported that Iran launched a missile attack against one of its vessels.

US response and the tolls dispute

US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that Iran has informed the US it has "no plan" to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Iranians have told us they have no plan to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz.”

Vance acknowledged that "some circles within the Iranian system" had spoken about imposing tolls, a practice the US opposes. Barak Ravid, Channel 12's Washington correspondent, said the demands "clearly cannot be accepted by the US" and may push President Donald Trump back toward the military option he had set aside days earlier. The previous June agreement envisioned that full sanctions relief could only come within a final deal on Iran's nuclear program, and US officials have said Tehran could access frozen funds only if it hands over its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium.

Background of the blockade

The war began on February 28 with American-Israeli strikes against Iran. A ceasefire agreement reached in June, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, briefly restored traffic through the strait. That truce collapsed in early July, leading to renewed American strikes and Iranian retaliation against Washington's allies in the Middle East. The strait, which carried one-fifth of global oil, was shut again by Iran, which regularly targets ships entering without its permission. Trump canceled a wave of American strikes over the past weekend, citing progress in the talks.

The Revolutionary Guards' spokesperson Hossein Mohebi said on August 9 that Iran will maintain the blockade until the US accepts "all" Iranian conditions. He called the waterway "henceforth in reality a theatre of war for us and not merely a navigable route." High energy prices linked to the blockade pose a political risk for Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.