US and Iranian negotiators are discussing a phased deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift Washington’s economic blockade, but diplomatic efforts will be challenged by both sides’ unwillingness to surrender leverage.
An Iranian official told Reuters that one way out of the impasse, which has triggered a historic energy supply disruption, is to “solve the crisis in stages.” A deal would ease Tehran’s economic woes, and bring down record-high fuel prices in a political boost for US President Donald Trump.
“The least bad option is a return to diplomacy,” two analysts argued in Foreign Affairs: A truce “will require painful concessions from both Washington and Riyadh,” but a sustained war will bring “a far more painful” economic disaster.