Washington/Tehran, 24 May (H.S.): Amid tensions in West Asia and around the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump held telephone conversations on Saturday with leaders and officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Bahrain. He later announced that Iran had agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying the passage would be reopened soon. Mediating countries are now preparing the final draft of a peace agreement between the United States and Iran, and the deal is expected to be announced once that work is completed.

According to reports from Al Jazeera and CBS News, Trump also spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and shared details of his conversations with the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Bahrain. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the agreement includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He added that the deal still depends on the final approval of U.S. and Iranian negotiators, along with several other countries.

He said the final aspects and details of the agreement are still being discussed and that an announcement will be made soon. Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country would continue efforts to encourage dialogue between the two sides. He expressed hope that Islamabad could host future U.S.-Iran talks very soon.

After his phone call with Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara was pleased with the progress made in the talks. He said it now appeared possible to ensure uninterrupted movement through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a separate statement, the Egyptian presidency urged all sides to seize the diplomatic opening and reach an agreement. The diplomatic push gained momentum after Trump’s threats. He had said the United States would attack Iran with full force once the ceasefire period ended, but later postponed the attack at the request of Arab countries.

Despite all this, Tehran remains unconvinced by the United States. Iran says Washington has not lifted the military blockade from its ports. Reports said the latest peace proposal includes reopening Hormuz and freeing some of Iran’s assets held in foreign banks.

Iran objected to Trump’s claim that the peace proposal includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian government said Saturday evening that the waterway is highly strategic. Before the war, about 20 percent of the world’s oil passed through it. The semi-official Fars News Agency said that even if a potential agreement is reached, the Strait of Hormuz will remain under Iranian control.

Fars added that Iran has agreed to allow shipping traffic to return to prewar levels, but that does not mean completely unrestricted movement will be permitted as it was before the war.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar