They said preparing to open. He named the war.
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The conventional narrative is that Tehran is preparing to open the strait. Thursday night brought a list for mediators, and a channel held for a United States memorandum.
What changed
On Thursday 27 August 2026, Reuters published Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, speaking through an interpreter to Al Manar television. Iran, he said, is preparing a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after mediators asked Tehran to set them out. Ending the regional war was among them. Rezaei said Iran had agreed with Oman on a shipping corridor through the strait, with parts of the route in Omani waters and parts in Iranian waters. Ships would use a designated central channel if the United States met Iran's conditions.
Al Jazeera's 28 August live blog used a different verb. Iran, it said, is preparing to draft conditions to open the strait following mediator requests. The same live blog said Iranian security chief Rezaei added that the United States must first take practical steps to fulfill those demands before the waterway reopens. Middle East Eye, reporting in the same hour, put Qatar's prime minister in Tehran as those talks ran.
WSJ Markets reported the same night that oil edged higher on fading hopes for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The same Reuters piece restated a 26 August Guards line. A Revolutionary Guards spokesperson said Iran would not allow the strait to reopen unless Washington lifted what Tehran describes as a blockade of Iranian ports, paid compensation, and removed sanctions. That is a Guards claim dated 26 August. It is not Rezaei's named list.
On 25 August, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the Navy had told him all mines had been removed and/or detonated from within the strait's international waters. The same day, Oman's Foreign Ministry said its proposed framework with Iran included a joint project to clear the strait of mines. Axios reported that the two foreign ministers did not reach a deal. Rezaei's remarks are different: a named official tying a central channel to a United States memorandum, while an Oman corridor sits beside it.
On 27 August, traders who asked not to be named told Bloomberg that Kuwait and Qatar had got oil shipments back to 70 percent of pre-conflict levels, and that around 7 to 8 million barrels a day was exiting Hormuz. That is a claim about barrels. Rezaei's is a list of conditions.
Reuters published the Rezaei interview and attributed the list, the war condition, the Oman corridor, and the central channel tied to the United States meeting Iran's conditions to Rezaei, via Al Manar. Al Jazeera's live page said Iran was preparing to draft conditions to open the strait, and WSJ Markets reported fading hopes. None of that shows that the list exists as a document, that the Oman corridor is operating, or that the strait is open.
Sources
Reuters, 27 August 2026. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, to Al Manar. Preparing a list of conditions after mediators asked. Ending the regional war among them. Oman corridor in parts of each country's waters. Designated central channel if the United States met Iran's conditions. Revolutionary Guards, 26 August, as restated by Reuters: blockade, compensation, sanctions.
Al Jazeera live, 28 August 2026. Iran says it is preparing to draft conditions to open the Strait of Hormuz following mediator requests. Rezaei: the United States must first take practical steps.
Middle East Eye, 27 August 2026. Qatar's prime minister holds talks in Tehran as Rezaei speaks.
WSJ Markets, 27 August 2026. Oil edged higher on fading hopes for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Axios, 25 August 2026. Trump, on Truth Social: the United States Navy told him all mines had been removed and/or detonated from the international waters of the strait. The foreign ministers of Iran and Oman, meeting in Tehran, did not reach a deal.
CNBC, 25 August 2026. Oman's Foreign Ministry: the proposed framework with Iran includes a joint project to clear the strait of mines. Badr and Araghchi met in Tehran.
Bloomberg, 27 August 2026. Traders who asked not to be named: Kuwait and Qatar oil shipments back to 70 percent of pre-conflict levels; around 7 to 8 million barrels a day exiting Hormuz, up from around 4 million in mid-July.
How it is being framed
Opening: preparing to open. Drafting conditions after mediator requests. Al Jazeera live.
List: Rezaei. A list for mediators. Ending the regional war among them. Reuters, Al Manar.
Corridor: Oman. Parts Omani, parts Iranian. Already in motion as a talk. Not the central channel.
Channel: designated central channel if the United States meets the conditions. Rezaei.
Market: fading hopes. Oil edges higher. WSJ.
Shipments: Kuwait and Qatar at seventy percent of pre-conflict levels. Traders, to Bloomberg, 27 August.
These accounts tell different stories. A prepare-to-open live blog and a list that names the war cannot both be a description of a reopened strait unless the list is a formality. What can be checked from Thursday night is the Reuters report, Al Jazeera's wording, and the WSJ report of fading hopes. They are not a confirmed opening.
Reporting versus inference
Reporting is: Reuters published a 27 August piece attributing to Rezaei, via Al Manar, a list of conditions requested by mediators, with ending the regional war among them, an Oman corridor in parts of each country's waters, and a designated central channel if the United States met Iran's conditions; Al Jazeera published a 28 August live blog saying Tehran is preparing to draft conditions to open the strait and that the United States must first take practical steps; WSJ Markets reported fading hopes and a higher oil price; Reuters restated a 26 August Guards claim on blockade, compensation, and sanctions.
Inference, labeled as such: the Oman corridor and the central channel are two different waterways in Rezaei's telling. A prepare-to-open headline that omits the war condition reads as a reopen. A list that names the war reads as a hold. Those statements were made. None of them confirms a document, a transit, or an opening.
What may follow
Reasoning, not a forecast.
If the list reading is right, the evidence to look for is a named document, or a United States reply that addresses the war condition. If the corridor reading is right, the next fact is a named hull on the Oman-linked route. If the channel reading is right, the next fact is a memorandum that opens the designated central channel, not a corridor talk. If the opening reading is right, the next fact is a daily transit count other than 15. If the market reading is right, the next fact is a settle that treats the list as a fade, not a reopen.
What remains unresolved
Whether a list exists as text. Whether ending the war is a condition or a preface. Whether the Oman corridor is operating. Whether the central channel is the pre-war lane. Whether the Guards' blockade, compensation, and sanctions sit on Rezaei's list or beside it. A United States reply. A voyage.
Corrections
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