US-Iran 60-day deal deadline passes with Hormuz and nuclear talks stalled

The 60-day US-Iran deadline has expired with the Strait of Hormuz still contested. The failed June deal has raised risks for oil supplies, prices and regional stability.A 60-day deadline set under a June agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war and resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme passed on Monday, with the two sides further apart than before. Talks have centred on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting a US blockade on Iran, both of which were meant to happen under the interim deal, but there has been no sign of a compromise on the strait or of detailed nuclear negotiations beginning.The standoff has left both sides dug in. For the US, accepting Iran's latest demands would mean giving Tehran control over a critical international waterway that carried a fifth of the world's traded oil and gas before the war, while any further escalation would put more strain on US missile interceptor supplies, hit the world economy and raise fuel prices ahead of congressional elections.The June agreement, called the Memorandum of Understanding and signed at Versailles, called for a halt to military operations and set a 60-day deadline for a permanent settlement. It said the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened but gave Iran a vaguely defined role in facilitating traffic, leaving open the possibility that it could charge fees after the 60-day period. Iran has used that clause to claim control over the waterway.A week after the deal was signed, Iran began firing on vessels using a route along Oman's coast, on the other side of the strait, that is overseen by the US military and was intended to bypass Tehran's control. The US responded with strikes on Iran, which then attacked Arab countries hosting American forces, including Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. Washington also cancelled waivers that had allowed Iran to sell oil internationally and restored a blockade on Iranian ports. Both sides accused each other of breaching the June agreement, of which little now remains. The fighting later eased. A related truce in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah has largely held, even as Israeli troops remain in large parts of the south. Lebanon's "territorial integrity and sovereignty" were to have been ensured under the June deal. Iranian officials say they stopped negotiating with the US in June, while also saying messages have continued through intermediaries. Trump has said talks are still going on and has at times claimed progress after stepping back from threats of major strikes.Pakistan, which played an important role in brokering the June agreement, said last week that the deadline was Monday and voiced hope that it would be extended. "We are not closing the chapter," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said. "Pakistan is making all-out efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table." Earlier this month, Iran set out conditions for reopening the strait, including lifting the American blockade, withdrawing US forces from around Iran and paying reparations for damage caused in the war that the US and Israel began on February 28. Even then, Iran has said it would control the strait, and could charge fees, through an agreement it is negotiating with Oman. It has also said the waterway will not return to being an open, toll-free passage as it was before the war. At the same time, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have begun attacking Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening another key trade route that had helped ease some of the pressure from the closure of the strait.Trump has rejected Iran's demands, saying Tehran should pay war reparations and claiming the US controls the strait. He appears to be relying on economic pressure, through the blockade and long-running sanctions, to force Iran to back down. Iran's economy has been hit hard by the war and isolation, with inflation rising sharply. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which had increased immediately after the interim deal, has again fallen to a small fraction of pre-war levels, and prices of fuel and other goods are expected to rise further the longer the disruption continues.With the deadline now over and no breakthrough in sight, the June agreement has largely unravelled, the strait remains at the centre of the dispute, and both sides appear to be waiting for the other to give way.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 17, 2026 14:30 IST