Is America About to Hand Iran Control of Hormuz? & Iran’s Wartime Purge

**Mike Baker** (0:12)
It's Thursday, the 6th of August, welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the US and Iran may be closing in on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, possibly, but the reported terms would give Tehran control over ships entering the Persian Gulf. Well, that doesn't sound like much of a deal. We'll have the details later in the show.
Well, clearly, the Iranian regime has not changed its stripes, just in case you were wondering if somehow they've turned over a new leaf. The regime is accelerating its execution of protesters, using the war to recast domestic opposition as treason and eliminate those who challenged the regime during the protests held at the beginning of the year.
Well, I mean, eliminate those that they didn't already slaughter during the protests. Plus, Russia appears to be putting its thumb on the scale in Germany's upcoming elections. What? Russian shenanigans? Using disinformation to undermine opponents of the right-wing AfD party. And in today's Back of the Brief, how do you say tit for tat in Mandarin? Beijing responds to recent US actions with new restrictions of their own, targeting American entities, drone technology and factory inspections. But first, today's PDB spotlight.
Iran says that it's on the verge of finalizing an agreement with Oman that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give Tehran unprecedented control over ships entering the Persian Gulf. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has said nothing publicly about the reported terms. That silence matters, because the arrangement described by Iranian and regional officials appears to cross a line that Washington has repeatedly said it would not accept, allowing Iran to control access to one of the most important shipping routes in the world. According to Reuters, Iran and Oman have reached what Tehran describes as, quote, fundamental understandings. Well, that's nice, on a new system for managing traffic through the strait. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Qazem Ghedda Babadi, which, honestly, if he wasn't a hardliner, would be fun to say, says the two countries have settled nearly every major issue, including the routes that commercial vessels would use when entering and leaving the Gulf. Axios is reporting that the US had hoped to announce an interim agreement as early as Wednesday. Its sources said that the White House has been actively involved behind the scenes, with recent calls involving Trump envoy Steve Whitcoff, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas al-Alaqchi, and Oman's Foreign Minister. But Iran, at the same time, insists that these negotiations are between Tehran and Muscat Oman, not between Iran and the US. Now that may be a distinction designed largely for domestic consumption, possibly. Either way, the terms now being discussed reportedly would represent a major change from the system that existed before the war. According to Axios, the proposal would establish a temporary arrangement lasting 60 days. Ships entering the Persian Gulf would travel through a northern lane running inside Iranian territorial waters. Ships leaving the Gulf would use a southern lane through Omani waters, although their passage would have to be coordinated with Tehran.
No tolls or fees would be charged during the 60-day period. The parties would also begin clearing naval mines, reportedly, from the median lane of the strait, with the goal of reopening it within 30 days. Once that lane is cleared, Iran and Oman would negotiate a permanent arrangement governing both inbound and outbound traffic. Iranian officials have offered a slightly different description. Well, that's nothing new. Geta Babbadi says, that is fun to say, says substantial portions of both routes would pass through Iranian waters and that the temporary arrangement could last anywhere from two to four months or potentially longer. Reuters also reports that ships entering the Gulf could require authorization from Iranian authorities. Now, that is the heart of the story. Before the war began, commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz without seeking Iran's permission and without paying Tehran a fee. If the reported terms take effect, Iran would emerge from five months of war with a formal role in deciding how ships enter the Gulf, authority that obviously did not possess before the fighting started. That would allow Tehran to claim that it did not simply withstand the American campaign, but it withstood it and forced Washington and its regional partners to accept their demands. That is, frankly, how the regime will portray any deal. The final arrangement could prove even more consequential. Reuters reports that Iran wants ships to pay fees equal to between 5 and 7 percent of the value of their cargo. Oman is reportedly proposing a smaller fee of roughly 3 percent. Washington's position remains that there should be no fees at all.