Iran said transit through the critical Strait of Hormuz will flow once the conflict with the US and Israel is over, but the sides are no closer to resolving their differences. President Donald Trump returned from a two-day summit with China’s Xi Jinping where both agreed the strait should be open but made no apparent progress toward that goal. Iran has shown little interest in loosening its hold on the waterway, insisting it wants to maintain a degree of control even after the end of the war, as Iran’s threats on ships in the Persian Gulf have brought exports from the region to a near-standstill and sent energy prices soaring.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the strait should be opened to shipping as soon as possible, as the world’s two largest economies sought to emphasize points of agreement during Trump’s visit — even as they’re essentially on opposite sides of the conflict. On his way back from China, Trump told reporters he spoke with Xi about potentially lifting sanctions on Chinese oil companies that buy Iranian crude, saying “I’m going to make a decision over the next few days.”
The White House faces a conundrum: how to reopen the strait, lower global energy prices, and wind down an increasingly unpopular conflict ahead of midterm elections in November. Brent crude has jumped about 50% since the start of the war. Pakistan has emerged as the main mediator in US-Iran peace negotiations. The only near-term deal in sight involves deferring Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a later stage of negotiations — despite Trump citing Iran’s nuclear program as the main justification for the war.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
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