Oman is brokering talks on a temporary transit corridor through the Strait of Hormuz between Tehran and Washington, and the United States is holding back some threatened secondary sanctions to keep the channel open, per CNBC.

Tehran said on Wednesday the strait "will remain closed unless the United States ends the war," despite the Oman talks, according to France 24's live coverage of the six-month-old conflict.

Washington had earlier announced fresh sanctions, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened Iran with "economic asphyxiation," per the same report.

Roughly a fifth of the world's oil and LNG shipments pass through Hormuz, so whether the corridor talk hardens into real de-escalation or stays a rhetorical sideshow will move energy markets.

HYPOTHESIS: Iran's public rejection may be a negotiating posture rather than a rejection of the corridor itself, preserving deterrence credibility at home while the backchannel continues. Supporting this: the talks proceed alongside the closure statement, and Washington's restraint on secondary sanctions signals room to negotiate. Against this: Tehran ties any opening explicitly to an end of the war, a far higher bar than a transit corridor, and Bessent's sanctions threat suggests Washington isn't fully committed to de-escalation either. Confidence: low.

What to watch

  • Whether Oman announces a concrete corridor framework or the talks stay informal
  • Whether Washington formally suspends secondary sanctions rather than merely deferring them
  • Any shift in Iran's public language tying Hormuz to conditions short of a full war-ending settlement