Overview
- Pakistan has driven fresh diplomacy by relaying a U.S. proposal to Tehran, with Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi meeting Iranian officials in Tehran on Friday to press for a framework.
- The two sides report progress on a draft ceasefire and confidence measures, but Iran and the United States remain divided over Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and demands about control or fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
- President Donald Trump publicly vowed the U.S. would recover Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, and U.S. officials say they will not accept any Iranian plan to impose tolls on the international waterway.
- Iran has created a Persian Gulf Strait Authority and has reportedly discussed fee schemes with Oman, while the U.S. Navy and CENTCOM say carrier forces are at peak readiness and continue to enforce a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
- Selective tanker transits have briefly eased markets but oil prices and the dollar remain volatile, and the IEA warns that summer demand could push global energy supplies into a dangerous shortfall if the strait stays restricted.