WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD - US President Donald Trump said Friday the Strait of Hormuz will reopen “fairly soon,” with or without Iran’s cooperation, as negotiators from both countries gathered in Pakistan for high-level talks aimed at ending the war that began in late February.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Washington, Trump said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is his top priority in the negotiations. “No nuclear weapon. That’s 99 percent of it,” Trump said.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. About 20% of the world’s crude oil passes through it. Iran effectively closed the strait during the conflict, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
Trump has sent Vice President JD Vance to lead the US delegation in Islamabad. Special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner are also part of the team. Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi represent Tehran. The talks are the highest-level direct discussions between the US and Iran in half a century.
The negotiations follow a two-week ceasefire agreed on Tuesday. They are expected to last up to 15 days and will address Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile development, and the reopening of the strait.
Before the talks began, Trump said on social media that the US military had destroyed 28 Iranian mine-dropping vessels and was “clearing the Strait of Hormuz.” Iran’s state-affiliated Nor news called the claim “false news.”
Despite Trump’s statements, shipping through the strait remains limited. Iran has warned vessels to avoid the main traffic zone because of sea mines laid during the war. A New York Times report said Iran cannot locate all the mines it deployed and lacks the capability to remove them. Iranian officials said the strait will remain open “with due consideration of technical limitations,” which US officials interpret as a reference to the mine problem.
Since the ceasefire, only a handful of vessels have passed through. Before the war, about 130 ships transited the strait daily. As of Friday, more than 600 vessels, including 325 tankers, remained stranded in the Gulf, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
Trump said Friday he believes the strait will reopen quickly. “I think it’s going to go pretty quickly,” he told reporters. “And if it doesn’t, we’ll be able to finish it off one way or the other.”
The war has sent global oil prices higher. The spot price of Brent crude was around $96 on Friday, up about 35% since the conflict began. The International Monetary Fund has warned the war is darkening the outlook for the world economy.
Iran has set conditions for the talks, including a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the release of its frozen assets held in several countries. Iranian officials said a full ceasefire in Lebanon has not yet been established, with limited Israeli strikes continuing in the south.
Trump has dismissed Iran’s negotiating position. On his Truth Social platform Friday, he wrote: “The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways.”
The talks in Islamabad are being mediated by Pakistan. Both delegations held separate meetings with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif before the formal discussions began. The negotiations have moved into an expert-level phase, with specialized committees from both sides now at the table.
Trump said earlier Friday that the outcomes of the negotiations will be clear “in about 24 hours,” and warned that US warships are being reloaded to resume strikes if the talks fail. Iran has declared its armed forces remain at full readiness.
Analysts say the current ceasefire is fragile and that competing interests will make it difficult to reach a permanent peace deal.