Iran has laid out sweeping demands that the United States must meet before the Strait of Hormuz can fully reopen, complicating hopes that an emerging Iran-Oman agreement could quickly restore normal shipping through the critical waterway.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday that Washington must lift its naval blockade and sanctions, withdraw US forces from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets.

He also demanded an end to attacks on Iran’s regional allies and threats against the country, media reports said.

The conditions raise the stakes over the strait, through which about 20 per cent of the world’s oil normally flows, and make clear that Tehran does not regard an agreement with Oman over shipping routes as sufficient to reopen it.

The White House did not immediately respond to the demands.

Oman deal no longer enough

Iran and Oman have been negotiating the future management of Hormuz after Tehran effectively closed the strait in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks in February.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran and Muscat were “very close” to an agreement, with their militaries discussing details of a temporary shipping route.

But Araghchi said reopening Hormuz depended on other conditions, including Washington compensating Iran for what Tehran calls US violations of the Islamabad Memorandum, the ceasefire agreement signed in June.

Iran’s price for reopening Hormuz

End naval blockade: Lift the US blockade of Iranian ports

Lift sanctions: Remove US economic restrictions on Iran

War reparations: Compensate Iran for damage from the conflict

Frozen assets: Release Iranian funds held abroad

US military: Withdraw American forces from around Iran

Regional allies: End attacks on Iran’s allies

Threats: Stop US threats against Iran

Islamabad deal: Honour commitments Tehran says Washington made under the June memorandum

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi went further, saying reopening the strait was “not contingent on the Iran-Oman negotiations” but depended on “the United States fully accepting Iran’s conditions”.

The distinction is crucial: Iran and Oman may agree on how ships should move through Hormuz, but that does not mean normal traffic will resume.

Trump faces difficult choice

Iran’s demands could force US President Donald Trump to decide whether to make concessions or tolerate continued disruption to a waterway central to global energy supplies.

Washington has opposed any arrangement that would formalise Iranian control of Hormuz or allow Tehran to charge vessels for passage. Iran, however, insists the strait will not simply return to its pre-war status.

David Schenker, a former State Department official in Trump’s first administration, told AP that economic pressure could eventually push Trump towards compromise.

“This is a concession he may very well be willing to make,” Schenker said.

Trump himself acknowledged this week that Iran retains the ability to disrupt shipping.

“They can always shoot something … or drop a mine,” he said.

Traffic remains far below normal

Just over a dozen ships a day have navigated the strait over the past week, according to Kpler, compared with around 130 daily before the war.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence recorded 84 transits last week, up from 45 the previous week but far below the more than 700 crossings in a typical pre-crisis week.

Tensions rose further after the UAE said an Iranian missile targeted an ADNOC tanker crossing Hormuz.

The UAE condemned the attack as a “blatant violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 2817 and accused the IRGC of using the strait for “economic pressure or blackmail”. No injuries were reported.