Rubio: Hormuz Talks Accelerate After Trump Warning — Treasury Secretary Bessent Says Deal Possible by 'Tomorrow'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that negotiations aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz have made progress and could produce an agreement soon, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal could come by Wednesday, while President Donald Trump personally engaged Qatar's emir in the accelerating diplomatic push.

"There's been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet," Rubio told reporters at the State Department. "We're hoping that will happen very shortly."

"The denuclearization of Iran is the ultimate deal," Rubio said. "I think the immediate deal, the one that you see a lot of focus on, is the Strait."

"There are ships moving through the Straits. There's oil moving right now through the Straits. The Straits are open," he continued. "Nonetheless, I think that there's a conversation and a negotiation that we are involved in between Oman and Iran on how more ships can be able to go through there safely in the short term as we move towards these longer-term talks about denuclearization."

Rubio's remarks followed an increasingly optimistic assessment earlier Tuesday from Bessent, who said the United States and Iran could reach an agreement Tuesday or Wednesday.

"We are in talks with the Iranians," Bessent told CNBC's Squawk Box. "There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict."

Bessent said any agreement would provide "freedom of movement" through the waterway, rejecting the prospect of Iran charging commercial vessels for passage. He also attributed the apparent diplomatic movement to Trump's threat of a massive military operation against Tehran.

"We've seen President Trump, last week, threaten what would have been the largest military campaign since World War II against the Iranians, and now, because of that, we are in talks with the Iranians," Bessent said.

Iran and Oman have meanwhile reported progress in their own negotiations over arrangements for commercial traffic through Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tuesday that talks were proceeding positively at both the technical and political levels and were focused on establishing safe inbound and outbound shipping routes.

Iran has continued to publicly reject Trump's characterization that direct U.S.-Iran negotiations are underway, insisting its current talks are with Oman. Baghaei said Monday that Tehran was "not negotiating with the United States at this time," despite Trump's insistence that discussions were already taking place.

Trump responded Monday by accusing the Iranian leadership of being "unbelievably duplicitous," arguing that Tehran privately seeks negotiations while publicly denying them.

Even as the diplomacy advances, the U.S. blockade remains in force. U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that American forces have redirected 45 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded two as part of operations enforcing the blockade against Iran.