Hormuz Oil Shipments Hit Six-Month High as Iran Names Terms for Talks

Oil, cargo and liquefied natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks reached their highest level in six months, the commander of U.S. Central Command said Saturday, as Iran separately told mediators what it would require to return to talks with Washington. The two developments bear directly on fuel costs in the United States, where the war with Iran has pushed up gasoline and diesel prices.

Adm. Brad Cooper announced the shipping figures in a post on X, according to Middle East Eye. He said U.S. forces had helped move more than one billion barrels of oil through the waterway in the past two months and protected more than 2,000 commercial vessels, and that the main transit lanes have been cleared of mines. He added that the United States is working with regional partners on air defense and a new coalition drone unit to keep the strait and surrounding waters “open and clear.”

The Times of Israel, in its live coverage, reported Admiral Cooper saying that U.S. forces have helped more than one billion barrels of crude leave the Gulf and that Iran has exported zero barrels because of what he called an “ironclad” blockade. The U.S. naval blockade of Iran is among the issues Tehran wants resolved. The Times of Israel also reported that South Korea’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, told Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Seoul is willing to help restore free passage through the strait.

On the diplomatic side, Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran has set seven conditions for resuming talks, according to Iran International, which cited an X post by Mr. Rezaei and an earlier interview with Al Jazeera. The Times of Israel headlined the development as a top Iranian official saying Tehran had given conditions to mediators. Iran International reported that a Qatari mediator is conveying the terms to Washington. Mr. Rezaei did not spell out all seven in his post, and the sources read name only three.

The three demands he named to Al Jazeera, according to Iran International, were an end to the war “on all fronts,” the release of frozen Iranian assets, and an end to the U.S. naval blockade. In his X post, he wrote that the United States “must accept Iran’s rights and conditions” if it wants to get out of the situation it created. Iran International said Tehran is waiting for President Trump’s response.

The oil picture matters for American households. The national average price of gasoline was $4.43 a gallon this week, up from $3.20 a year earlier, according to AAA figures cited by Time, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said on Wednesday that inflation is “too high and has been for too long,” as NBC News reported. The Fed raised interest rates that day for the first time in three years.

The two positions are stated plainly. Admiral Cooper said the blockade has cut Iranian exports to zero and that commercial traffic is flowing again, while Mr. Rezaei said the blockade and the war must end before talks resume.