Updated

Iranian officials issued sweeping new demands as talks mediated by Oman on reopening the Strait of Hormuz entered what Tehran described as their final stages. A senior IRGC-linked security official set broader conditions for lifting the closure, including a permanent end to the conflict and sanctions relief, while President Masoud Pezeshkian has signalled he wants to end the standoff with Washington. Tehran says the waterway will remain restricted unless the United States meets its list of demands, now on day 29 of what Iranian and regional media describe as the second phase of the war. Adding a harder line, Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, head of Iran's Expediency Council and a former chief justice, said Iran would defend its position in the Strait of Hormuz "at any cost," asserting that Tehran holds sovereignty over the strategic waterway despite what he called enemy efforts to encircle the country, according to state broadcaster IRIB. The Expediency Council advises the supreme leader and arbitrates disputes among Iran's institutions, giving the remarks added weight alongside the negotiating track. The competing signals — conditional diplomacy from the government and defiance from senior clerical bodies — underline uncertainty over whether the closure, which affects a major share of global seaborne oil traffic, will be lifted soon.