US seeks Iranian pledge to free up Strait of Hormuz - kuwaitTimes

Kuwait City, Kuwait Jul 12, 2026 ALN: DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Saturday to discuss arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington seeking a public pledge of free, secure transit. US President Donald Trump stated on Friday that the US and Iran had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week, while also declaring an end to the ceasefire reached between the two sides.

No attacks were reported on Friday or early Saturday; however, a senior Iranian source informed Reuters that a call between Iran, the US, Qatar, and Pakistan had been agreed upon, with mediators attempting to arrange it for Saturday while Araghchi is in Oman. Oman is playing a crucial role in mediating an end to a conflict that has spread insecurity in the Gulf and raised prices globally since the US and its allies launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28.

According to CBS News and its UK partner the BBC, US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to lead negotiations with Araghchi. However, Iran’s Fars news agency later cited a source stating that no negotiations would take place until the US retreated from its current positions.

Araghchi accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement; the US revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after vessels were attacked. “There can only be mutual compliance,” he stated on X. While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts suggest Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations. Senior US officials indicated that Iran had informed them that recent attacks on shipping in the strait were from an “errant part of their system,” comments aimed at calming tensions.

The flare-up has cast further doubt over the future of an interim agreement aimed at ending the conflict and has pushed oil prices higher, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of the November congressional elections. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Friday. Qatari negotiators met with officials in Iran on Friday to de-escalate tensions and discuss the Strait of Hormuz, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

A written statement from Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday threatened vengeance for the death of his predecessor and father, who was killed on February 28. Released to mark funeral ceremonies for former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which the new leader did not attend, it stated that vengeance would occur regardless of the circumstances. Last month’s interim deal was meant to pave the way to end a conflict now in its fifth month, which has resulted in thousands of deaths, throttled worldwide energy supplies, and raised fears of a global economic downturn. During the war, Tehran has largely taken control of the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a stalemate.

The United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will cease attacks on ships in the strait and that all lanes will be open with no tolls through the waterway, which carried one-fifth of global oil supplies before the war, according to senior US officials.

At least 17 people were killed in US strikes on six cities in Iran on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the head of the public relations and information center at Iran’s Health Ministry, who also reported 115 injuries. Despite this, US officials stated that conversations between the two countries had been productive in recent days. Tehran warned that any breach of commitments by Washington would be met with “reciprocal action.” Renewed fighting has increased the burden on US consumers, with crude oil prices experiencing their largest weekly rise in eight weeks after weeks of steady declines.

Iran Vows Revenge

Meanwhile, the US has issued new Iran-related sanctions targeting a key financier for Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and 13 other individuals and entities, following Tehran’s resumed attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Treasury Department. The sanctions targeted Ali Ansari, an Iranian banker and businessman based in Dubai, who had previously been sanctioned by Britain for financially supporting the activities of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and other entities.

The Treasury stated that Ansari had diverted publicly funded wealth into an extensive overseas portfolio of real estate and commercial holdings to enrich himself, government elites, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also targeted three Iran-based exchange houses and foreign “front companies” that it claimed moved billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks, using layers of shell companies to obscure the government’s illicit activities.

“The United States is taking decisive action to cut off the financial lifelines sustaining Iran’s ruling elite,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott stated. “By targeting these networks, the United States is directly disrupting the regime’s ability to access foreign currency and conduct international financial activity.” The sanctions were announced on a day of relative calm following a week of renewed conflict, during which three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under Iranian fire, prompting the US to strike Iranian sites and Iran to respond with strikes on US military sites in Gulf states.

US President Donald Trump stated on Friday that the ceasefire agreed with Iran was over, but Washington had agreed to continue talks at Iran’s request. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that the department would “continue using every tool at its disposal” to isolate Khamenei and other top Iranian officials from the global financial system. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Bessent of violating Article 9 of the memorandum of understanding, describing it as a violation that follows “other violations and missteps by the US.”

Iran has stated it is prepared for “all-out defense” if the US violates the memorandum of understanding agreed upon last month. Its top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, vowed on Telegram that the war would never end with Tehran’s surrender. Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, noted that the new sanctions sent a clear message to Tehran: “Washington is no longer trying to salvage the existing framework. It’s preparing to replace it entirely.” Under Article 9 of the US-Iran accord, Washington agreed that it “will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.”

The Treasury noted that Ansari was previously the owner and director of the US-sanctioned and now-bankrupt Ayandeh Bank, which was shut down under Iranian government orders in mid-October 2025. It stated that Ansari used numerous shell companies and bank accounts across multiple jurisdictions to accumulate millions of dollars’ worth of holdings under the Saint Kitts and Nevis-based Smart Global Limited, a holding company established in 2011 that invested in real estate and commercial properties in Europe, the Gulf, and other regions.

Meanwhile, mediators are attempting to salvage diplomacy aimed at ending the Middle East war after US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire over, with a Qatari delegation in Iran and Tehran’s top diplomat traveling to Oman. An exchange of fire this week has rocked an already fragile agreement that was supposed to help pave the way for a permanent end to the conflict, which erupted in late February with massive US-Zionist strikes on Iran.

While there have been no direct talks between Tehran and Washington since last month, Iranian media reported that a delegation from mediator Qatar traveled to Iran. The visit follows Trump’s statement that talks would continue, despite previously labeling them “a waste of time.” “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks’. We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

Additionally, Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge for the US-Zionist killing of his father and predecessor, hours after President Donald Trump warned against any attempt to assassinate him. Both sides have heightened their rhetoric following exchanges of fire this week that have disrupted an interim agreement aimed at ending their war, which began in late February with massive US-Zionist strikes. Trump has declared the ceasefire over, while mediators are trying to salvage diplomacy, with Iranian media reporting that a delegation from Qatar traveled to Iran on Friday. “Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” Mojtaba Khamenei stated in a written message.

He became Iran’s supreme leader after his father Ali Khamenei’s killing in late February by US-Zionist strikes, but has not been in public since before the war. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote in his first message since his father’s funeral this week. He mentioned that Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted.

Hours earlier, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to “completely decimate” Iran. “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!” Trump wrote.