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U.S. Treasury Secretary says chance of Hormuz deal with Iran by August 5

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by Wednesday, potentially stabilizing energy prices. Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied negotiations with Washington, and a cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the strait.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 3 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 4–5, 2026 Published Aug 14

Lead

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that the United States could reach a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Wednesday, adding that this would stabilize energy prices. "We are in talks with the Iranians, and I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalised position in this conflict," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC, as reported by The Hindu and The Guardian.

Coverage Comparison

Both The Guardian and The Hindu reported Bessent's comments, with The Guardian noting he said a deal could be reached "by tomorrow" and The Hindu specifying "by Wednesday." The Guardian's live blog also quoted US President Donald Trump expressing optimism, saying "It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day," and noting "A lot of progress has been made." The Hindu reported that Trump expressed optimism about a potential deal, and that he had pulled back from threats of a massive military strike on Iran over the weekend.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place, a point carried by both outlets. The Guardian also reported that Iran said talks with Oman to reopen the critical shipping route were progressing "positively," while The Hindu noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is "involved" in negotiations between Oman and Iran on increasing traffic through the strait.

Key Claims

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by Wednesday, and that it would be "freedom of movement," with no tolls charged by Iran.
Bessent stated that a deal would stabilize energy prices, as hundreds of ships are waiting to pass through the strait.
US President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a potential deal, saying it could happen "tomorrow or the next day."
Iran's Foreign Ministry denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place.
A cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut since February, causing global energy prices to rise, and the average price of a liter of petrol has reached a new high.
Iran has pushed for greater control of the Strait of Hormuz, while the US has rejected those demands.
Qatar said diplomatic efforts to reach a solution were ongoing.

Perspectives

US Officials: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and President Donald Trump expressed optimism about a potential deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Bessent emphasizing the potential for stabilizing energy prices and freedom of movement.

Iranian Officials: Iran's Foreign Ministry denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place, while Iran's state media indicated that a possible agreement with Oman on vessel arrangements would not necessarily lead to the immediate reopening of the strait.

Qatar: Qatar's foreign ministry said diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran were "ongoing," focusing on lowering escalation and reopening the strait.

How each outlet told it

The Guardian — World as of Aug 5, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC

Framing: Hope for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but terms remain unclear — Neutral

Facts Included:

US officials, including Donald Trump, said a deal over the Strait of Hormuz could be reached soon
Iran said talks with Oman to reopen the critical shipping route were progressing positively
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut since February, causing global energy prices to rise
Iran has pushed for greater control of the Strait of Hormuz, while the US has rejected those demands
The cost of fuel has risen, with the average price of a liter of petrol reaching a new high

Read the source article →

The Guardian — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

Framing: Bessent says US could reach deal with Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz by tomorrow — Neutral

Facts Included:

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by tomorrow
Bessent stated that it would be freedom of movement, with no tolls charged by Iran
Iran had earlier denied that negotiations with the US were taking place
A cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz
Qatar said diplomatic efforts to reach a solution were ongoing

Read the source article →

The Hindu — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC

Framing: Optimism about a potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — Neutral

Facts Included:

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by Wednesday
Bessent stated that this would stabilize energy prices
US President Donald Trump also expressed optimism about a potential deal
Iran's Foreign Ministry denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place
A cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached by Wednesday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from The Hindu — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimBessent stated that this would stabilize energy prices.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Hindu — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC
ClaimUS President Donald Trump also expressed optimism about a potential deal.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from The Hindu — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimIran's Foreign Ministry denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusContested via The Hindu — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC
ClaimA cargo ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source quoted from The Hindu — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 5:30 PM UTC the outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut since February, causing global energy prices to rise.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Aug 5, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC
ClaimIran has pushed for greater control of the Strait of Hormuz, while the US has rejected those demands.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Aug 5, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC
ClaimThe cost of fuel has risen, with the average price of a liter of petrol reaching a new high.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Aug 5, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC
ClaimQatar said diplomatic efforts to reach a solution were ongoing.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Guardian — World as of Aug 4, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 3 articles consulted: The Guardian — World, The Hindu — World 9 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-14