Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks at a press convention in Tehran, Iran, Dec. 2, 2025.
Shadati | Xinhua Information Company | Getty Pictures
Iran’s chief negotiator has accused U.S. President Donald Trump of staging “theater diplomacy,” as Washington and Tehran provide conflicting accounts of bilateral engagement aimed toward ending their monthslong hostilities.
“‘Huge assault coming … wait, by no means thoughts, they wish to negotiate.’ That is theater diplomacy on loop,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and high negotiator, wrote in a post on X on Thursday in an obvious gibe at Trump.
The remarks got here days after Trump known as off deliberate strikes and mentioned the outlines of a deal had already been settled with Tehran. Iranian officers have rejected the declare, saying no talks have been underway.
The battle is in the meantime broadening throughout the area, with Gulf power infrastructure and key transport choke factors beneath renewed risk.
Saudi Arabia is bracing for “a number of coordinated assaults” by Iraqi militia factions working with Iran-backed Houthis, a Saudi official told CNN. Intelligence experiences from Saudi Arabia and regional governments reportedly indicated that the teams deliberate to strike the dominion “within the very close to future” beneath the steering of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The warning got here a day after the Houthis claimed duty for attacks on two Saudi oil tankers within the Gulf of Aden, one other crucial transport choke level. Saudi Arabia has come beneath Houthi missile fireplace and drone assaults by Iran-backed Iraqi militias in latest weeks.
Transport by means of the area’s two crucial choke factors has fallen sharply in latest days. Solely two vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, down from eight a day earlier, in keeping with Kpler vessel-tracking information, towards a prewar baseline of roughly 130 to 140 each day transits. Site visitors by means of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait collapsed to a single dry bulk service, from 20 vessels the day past.
Flows through Hormuz are unlikely to return to prewar ranges anytime quickly, even after a deal is reached between Oman and Iran for managing site visitors through the crucial waterway.
U.S. and Israeli ships can be barred from the Strait of Hormuz beneath a draft plan involving Iran and Oman for managing the waterway, Tehran’s semiofficial Fars information company reported Thursday, with restrictions extending to nations which have “precipitated harm” to Iran, till compensation is paid.
Iran additionally plans to challenge penalties of as much as 20% of the worth of the cargo of those that violate the phrases of the settlement, which is at present beneath evaluate, in keeping with Fars.
Oil jumped on indicators of Tehran’s hardening stance on Hormuz site visitors. Brent crude futures for October supply gained 1.3% to $83.55 a barrel, whereas September futures for WTI crude rose about 1.1% to $78.17 on Friday, extending losses from a day earlier and reversing an earlier slide pushed by transient optimism {that a} Hormuz deal was days away.
Earlier, regional officers mentioned that Iran and Oman have been close to finalizing a framework protecting all inbound site visitors through Iranian territorial waters in addition to outbound site visitors by means of a route nearer to Oman, although the association wouldn’t mechanically reopen the waterway.
In a Reality Social submit on Thursday, Trump pushed again on experiences that U.S. munitions shares have been depleted by the struggle. “The U.S. has huge quantities of ‘munitions,’ particularly of sure sorts,” he mentioned, vowing to pursue “long-term jail sentences” for leakers.
CNN reported later within the day that, within the Oval Workplace, Trump acknowledged that sure munitions are in “tighter” provide, whereas insisting less-advanced weapons stay in just about limitless provide.
