Iran has told International Maritime Organization member states that “non-hostile vessels” may transit the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Iranian authorities, the Financial Times reported, citing a letter.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Tehran had offered Washington a “very significant prize” related to oil and gas, expressing optimism that a deal to end the conflict could be possible.
Trump did not provide details about the offer he said Iran had made but described it as related to oil, gas and the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were among the officials leading the talks and were "dealing with the right people" in Iran.
Tehran has not publicly acknowledged any such proposal. Iranian officials, however, have been quoted by various outlets as saying that they have received proposals conveyed through intermediaries and are reviewing them.
Trump suggested that Tehran was eager to reach an agreement after weeks of fighting with the United States and Israel.
“And the other side, I can tell you they’d like to make a deal, and who wouldn’t?” Trump said. “If you were there, look, their navy’s gone, their air force is gone, their communications are done — that’s the biggest problem.”
The president’s remarks marked a shift in tone from comments he made at the White House last week, when he said he did not want a cease-fire.
Pressed on the apparent reversal, Trump said the change reflected the progress of talks.
“The fact that they are talking to us and they are talking sense,” he said.
Trump reiterated that the central condition of any agreement would be Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons.
“And remember, it all starts with they cannot have a nuclear weapon, just as I said yesterday,” he said. “I said, ‘Well, number one, two and three is they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ and they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon, and we’re talking about that.”
Officials in Washington have indicated that potential talks could involve senior US negotiators and intermediaries in countries such as Pakistan or Turkey, as diplomatic efforts intensify alongside the continuing conflict.
Iranian officials have acknowledged indirect contacts with Washington but have said any agreement would require recognition of Iran’s rights under international law and relief from sanctions.
US President Donald Trump said Iran had given the United States a “significant prize” worth a “tremendous amount of money,” adding that it was related to the Strait of Hormuz.
"They did something yesterday that was amazing. Actually, they gave us a present, and the present arrived today, and it was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money," he told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
"I'm not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize, and they gave it to us…So that meant one thing to me, we’re dealing with the right people,” he added.
“It wasn't nuclear related. It was oil and gas related, and it was a very nice thing they did,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States is talking to “the right people” in Iran to reach an agreement to end hostilities.
“We’re talking to the right people … they want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters.
He added that Iran wants to reach a deal very badly.
Iranian officials and commentators are increasingly portraying control of the Strait of Hormuz not just as a strategic advantage but as a financial asset that could help offset the costs of war.
According to international media reports, including Bloomberg and Lloyd’s List Intelligence, Iran has begun charging oil tankers for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian outlets such as the state-owned Mehr News Agency and Tabnak—affiliated with Mohsen Rezaei, senior military adviser to Iran’s new leader—had previously reported that Tehran was considering the strait as a potential source of revenue for the Islamic Republic.
News reports say Iran is charging around $2 million per tanker. However, because U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from conducting international banking, it remains unclear what currency is being used and who ultimately receives the payments.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced that various countries and oil companies should contact Tehran directly to coordinate safe passage.
The idea of monetizing control of the strategic waterway has also been echoed in Iranian political commentary. The IRGC-linked daily Javan wrote that it was Iran’s new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who first introduced the concept.
“He revived a forgotten historical truth in the geopolitics of the Persian Gulf,” the newspaper wrote on Tuesday, March 24.
In an editorial titled “The Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Winning Card in the Post-War Order,” Javan argued that the waterway should become a strategic lever for the Islamic Republic and “the most important fund to compensate Iran’s losses in the war.”
According to the paper, this framework was outlined in Mojtaba Khamenei’s first message to the nation.
Under the heading “A Strategic Package for Compensation of Losses,” the editorial said Iran now needs a comprehensive, multilayered doctrine to prevent circumvention of its new arrangements. Taxes, it said, would be based on “the nature of the cargo” and “the degree of cooperation between the ship’s country of origin and the aggressors.”
Javan estimated that under such a framework regional states would need to pay $50 per barrel to compensate Iran’s losses and contribute to reconstruction efforts.
Ships belonging to Israel and the United States, it added, would be barred from the strait even under a different flag.
Under a section titled “Redefining Negotiations,” the paper said Israeli and U.S. vessels could use the waterway only if one sanction on Iran were lifted for each passage.
The argument rests on the claim—advanced by Iranian commentators—that international law allows states to levy fees to ensure the security of waterways under their control.
With control over several islands and strategic points in the Persian Gulf, and full control of the waterway’s northern shore, Iran holds a uniquely strategic position, the IRGC-linked daily argued.
The paper concluded: “This package sends a clear message to all players inside and outside the region: the era of imposing sanctions on Iran is over, as no country can benefit from Persian Gulf security for free.”
Whether the United States, regional states, or their partners in South Asia would accept Tehran’s unilateral framework and comply with its demands remains uncertain.
The commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, Major General Brandon Tegtmeier, and his “command element,” members of his headquarters staff, have been ordered to deploy to the Middle East as the Pentagon and White House weigh sending the unit for possible land operations, Fox News reported on Tuesday.
Axios reporter Barak Ravid also reported, citing a US official, that the division’s command element and an infantry brigade of several thousand troops have been directed to deploy to the region.
In a separate report, Reuters reported citing unnamed officials that Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. The officials did not specify where the troops would be deployed or when they would arrive in the region. The soldiers are stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the report said.
A day earlier, the New York Times reported citing defense officials that senior US military officials are weighing a possible deployment of a combat brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division and elements of its headquarters staff to support military operations in Iran.