• Updated

A Honduran woman poses for a portrait outside the Perdue Farms poultry plant, where she worked for more than two decades before losing her job the previous year after her TPS expired in Salisbury, Md., Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)

U.S. President Donald Trump says a deal on the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday or Thursday. An agreement could potentially help bring an end to the war. Regional officials tell The Associated Press that an agreement emerging from talks between Iran and Oman would see ships enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman. But the Trump administration has previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait, which was an open international waterway before the the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. About one fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed through the strait, but shipping through the waterway has been slowed to a trickle by Iran’s attacks since the start of the war.

Iran and the Gulf Arab state of Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help wind down the war in the Middle East. Two regional officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that under the emerging agreement, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman. Service fees would be charged. The talks are ongoing. Any agreement formalizing Iran’s control of the strait would mark a strategic victory for Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump is under mounting pressure to end an unpopular war that has driven up gas prices.