Iran and Oman are inching toward a deal to reopen the disputed Strait of Hormuz and potentially help bring an end to the war.

The emerging agreement calls for ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, two regional officials told The Associated Press.

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Any deal, though, appears contingent on the United States lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports. The Trump administration has previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait.

According to an Iranian state broadcaster, the official said that the talks revolve around a new corridor to secure passage of ships via the critical energy chokepoint.

“Iran-Oman talks revolve around new corridor that’ll secure safe passage of ships through Strait of Hormuz,” the official said.

Press TV further noted that the official highlighted how the corridor in Hormuz will safeguard Iran’s sovereign interests as a littoral state.

The latest remarks come amid a rapidly evolving situation in West Asia region.

As developments follow, Qatar on Tuesday said that the efforts to resolve the conflict between the US and Iran are in “very progressive stages”, further noting that the drafts of a potential agreement are “being circulated”, CNN reported.

Elsewhere, a mass funeral was held in Gaza City for more than 100 people killed in an Israeli strike early in the conflict. A memorial service was also held in Beirut for victims of a 2020 port explosion, and Yemen’s Houthis claimed they fired at a Saudi Arabian airport.

A top Iranian security official will travel Tuesday (February 10, 2026) to Oman, the Mideast sultanate now mediating talks between Tehran and the United States over the Islamic Republic’ nuclear programme aimed at halting a possible American strike.

Ali Larijani, a former Iranian Parliament speaker who now serves as the secretary to the country’s Supreme National Security Council, likely will carry his country’s response to the initial round of indirect talks held last week in Muscat with the Americans.

Mr. Larijani is due to meet with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, the chief intermediary in the talks, and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. IRNA described the talks as “important,” without elaborating on what message Mr. Larijani will carry.

Iran and the U.S. held new nuclear talks last week in Oman. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking Sunday (February 8, 2026) to diplomats at a summit in Tehran, signaled that Iran would stick to its position that it must be able to enrich uranium — a major point of contention with U.S. President Donald Trump, who bombed Iranian atomic sites in June during the 12-day Iran-Israel war. That war disrupted earlier rounds of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to travel to Washington this week, with Iran expected to be the major subject of discussion, his office said.

The U.S. has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to West Asia to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Mr. Trump choose to do so. Already, U.S. forces shot down a drone they said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration issued a new warning Monday (February 9, 2026) to American vessels in the strait to “remain as far as possible from Iran’s territorial sea without compromising navigational safety.” The strait, through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, is in Iranian and Omani territorial waters. Those traveling into the Persian Gulf must pass through Iranian waters.