# US and Iran both say a Strait of Hormuz deal is close; Trump says the war will end 'pretty soon' > US President Donald Trump said on August 6 the war with Iran will end 'pretty soon'; Iran's parliament was reported to be reviewing the text of a Hormuz route agreement with Oman; NBC News reported both sides say a deal is close but one or both would have to make concessions; US officials said they would not accept any arrangement leaving Iran in control of the strait; Iran insisted it would not return to the pre-war status of an open international waterway **Meta:** type: event · date: 2026-08-06 · heads: How Wars Actually End, What They're Not Saying · 7 takes · 4 lenses · 4 regions ## Summary On August 6, 2026, both the US and Iranian governments said a deal to reopen the [Strait of Hormuz](/en/entity/place/strait-of-hormuz) was close, while continuing to hold publicly irreconcilable positions. US President Donald Trump told reporters the war with Iran would end "pretty soon." Iranian state media reported that parliament was reviewing the text of an agreement being brokered by [Oman](/en/entity/oman), whose mediators have been working with Tehran on geographic coordinates for a new shipping lane. But the gap remained wide: the US says it will not accept any arrangement leaving Iran in control of the strait; Iran says it will not return to what it calls the old status of an open international waterway it cannot restrict. [An August 5 announcement](/en/n/hormuz-iran-oman-route-0805) of agreed coordinates was immediately complicated by both sides disputing what "agreed" meant. Etihad and Qatar Airways began restoring limited flights to Bahrain and Kuwait as carriers read the diplomatic signals. ## The split Al Jazeera, broadcasting from Qatar, emphasised that both sides' red lines have not moved: the gap between "close" and "agreed" is real and large. NBC News, sourcing from US officials, placed the burden of concession on Tehran. Bloomberg, behind a paywall, reported Iran insists on a bar on US Navy vessels in the strait, which Washington has not acknowledged. Iranian state media presented the Oman text review as a routine legislative step, not a capitulation. ## By the numbers - The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20 percent of global oil supply - Etihad and Qatar Airways restored limited service to Bahrain and Kuwait on August 6 - Trump's "pretty soon" formulation, his third public prediction of a near-term deal in a week ## Why it matters Every week the [Strait of Hormuz](/en/entity/place/strait-of-hormuz) stays closed, world oil and LNG prices remain elevated and global shipping patterns stay disrupted. A deal would not be a ceasefire but a partial reopening of the waterway under new rules, with sovereignty implications that neither side can fully concede in public before their domestic audiences. The [Iran US War 2026](/en/entity/iran-us-war-2026) has reached the stage where both governments want to de-escalate but neither wants to be seen to have blinked. ## What to watch - Whether Iran and Oman publish the agreed geographic coordinates for the shipping lane - US Navy posture in the Gulf, which directly limits what any corridor agreement can guarantee - Whether Trump sets a public deadline that forces a move before the parties are ready - Houthi posture in the Red Sea, which is entangled with, but separate from, the Hormuz deal ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### Gulf-based broadcaster; covered both sides' statements without a Washington frame - **Al Jazeera (liveblog)** (Qatar, en) — Al Jazeera's live blog tracked Iranian state media reporting lawmakers reviewing the Oman-brokered text, Trump's 'pretty soon' comment, and continued Houthi tanker attacks in the Red Sea; the outlet emphasised the gap between Trump's rhetoric and the unresolved core disputes. > "Iranian state media reports lawmakers reviewing text of deal with Oman over route through Strait of Hormuz." Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/8/6/iran-war-live-tehran-oman-close-in-on-hormuz-deal-houthis-attack-tankers ### US mainstream broadcast; sourced from US officials and independent analysts - **NBC News** (United States, en) — NBC News reported that both governments said a deal is close but that the remaining gaps, principally whether Iran retains any sovereign or operational control over the strait, mean at least one side would have to back down from a stated red line; the piece cited US officials rejecting any Iranian control. > "Iran has insisted on some measure of control over the strait, saying it will not go back to being an open international waterway, as it was before the war." Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/trump-iran-war-deal-strait-hormuz-deal-oman-rcna590920 ### explainer on each side's negotiating positions - **Al Jazeera** (Qatar, en) — Al Jazeera mapped both sides' stated positions as of August 6: the US would not accept Iranian control over shipping lanes; Iran said it would not accept a return to full international access as before the war; Oman was mediating on geographic and operational boundaries. > "US officials say they would not accept any arrangement on the waterway that would leave Iran in control." Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/6/hormuz-deal-close-whats-the-latest-on-each-sides-positions ### unlabelled - **Al Jazeera** (Qatar, en) — Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/6/will-the-us-iran-war-and-hormuz-deadlock-last-for-months - **The National (Abu Dhabi)** (UAE, en) — Source: https://www.thenationalnews.com/travel/2026/08/05/emirates-etihad-bahrain-kuwait-cancellations-us-iran/ - **Bloomberg** (Global, en) — Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-06/iran-says-deal-with-oman-on-strait-of-hormuz-agreed-in-principle - **Bloomberg** (Global, en) — Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-06/iran-seeks-bar-on-us-ships-in-hormuz-as-deal-with-oman-advances ## Across the graph - Related: [[hormuz-iran-oman-route-0805]], [[iran-us-talks-0803]], [[iran-us-deal-0802]], [[iran-us-ceasefire-0727]], [[hormuz-cargo-0804]] - Entities: Iran, United States, Person:donald Trump, Oman, Place:strait of Hormuz, Iran US War 2026 --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/en/n/iran-hormuz-deal-0806