A 60-day memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 expires this Sunday, yet US and Iranian positions on control and passage through the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked. Iran's military says no vessel may transit without authorization and rejects US claims that shipping is "normal." The US has taken a hard line: the defense secretary said it could sustain a maritime blockade of Iran "indefinitely" and the treasury warned of "unprecedented" economic measures. Kpler data show commodity ship

A 60-day memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 expires this Sunday, yet US and Iranian positions on control and passage through the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked. Iran's military says no vessel may transit without authorization and rejects US claims that shipping is "normal." The US has taken a hard line: the defense secretary said it could sustain a maritime blockade of Iran "indefinitely" and the treasury warned of "unprecedented" economic measures. Kpler data show commodity ship transits ticked up on Thursday but remain well below the pre-war daily average of about 130 vessels. Iran is not negotiating directly with the US and is instead talking with Oman on new maritime arrangements aimed at joint management; Pakistan's interior minister flew to Tehran Tuesday to mediate. Analysts say an Iran-Oman agreement could provide a route out of the stalemate and potentially open the door to longer-term US-Iran ceasefire talks.