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| U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House in Washington on November 18, 2025. Official White House photo / Public Domain. |
A new effort to revive U.S.-Iran negotiations is exposing a widening divide among Washington’s Gulf partners, with Qatar and Oman pushing for diplomacy while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are urging the United States to keep economic pressure on Tehran.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that mediators are seeking a new round of talks in Oman as early as next week, aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and creating a path toward winding down the nearly seven-month conflict.
Proposals under discussion have included a temporary pause in fighting and a phased arrangement for reopening the strait, according to the Journal.
Qatar and Oman push for diplomacy
Qatar and Oman have emerged as the Gulf states most actively pressing for renewed negotiations.
Their approach centers on a phased de-escalation: restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, reducing attacks across the Gulf and creating enough space for Washington and Tehran to negotiate a broader settlement.
The effort builds on earlier mediation between Iran and Oman over shipping routes through Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the two sides had been working on arrangements to allow vessels to move safely through the waterway, which carried roughly one-fifth of global oil production before the war sharply reduced traffic.
Reuters reported on Thursday that U.S. and Iranian negotiators were already discussing a phased formula under which Iran would reopen Hormuz while Washington would begin lifting its economic blockade.
Saudi Arabia and UAE want pressure maintained
According to the Journal, both governments have urged Washington to maintain sanctions and the naval blockade rather than ease pressure on Tehran before a new agreement is reached.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told U.S. officials that the blockade should remain in place until Iran agrees to a new deal, people familiar with the discussions told the newspaper.
The Saudi position has hardened as the conflict has moved closer to the kingdom’s own energy infrastructure. Houthi attacks and threats to Red Sea shipping routes have placed additional pressure on Saudi Arabia at a time when Hormuz has already become a major constraint on Gulf oil exports.
The UAE has also become more skeptical that Tehran is prepared to make substantial concessions, according to the Journal.
Tehran keeps a diplomatic channel open
Iran, meanwhile, has continued signaling that it is willing to negotiate if Washington reduces military and economic pressure.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier this week that Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports.
Reuters later reported that Iranian and U.S. representatives were examining a phased deal, although both sides remain reluctant to surrender the leverage that brought them back to negotiations in the first place.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that mediators see differences between Iran’s diplomatic officials and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps over how far Tehran should go in negotiations, with the IRGC taking a harder position.
That adds another complication to a process already shaped by competing Gulf priorities.
The dispute is no longer only over what Washington and Tehran are prepared to trade. It is also over what their neighbors want any agreement to produce: a rapid easing of regional tensions, or continued pressure until Iran accepts broader terms.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal; Reuters