The US and Iran are close to a deal over the Strait of Hormuz despite their hardened positions towards the lingering standoff, said Pakistan's Defense Minister on Tuesday.
Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg that Washington and Tehran are "close to some sort of arrangement" over the near-closed strait, which has been the sticking point to stall talks between the two warring sides.
His remarks come as Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is currently meeting Iranian leadership in Tehran as part of Islamabad's renewed push for resolution of the Hormuz standoff and the subsequent resumption of stalled talks.
A Pakistani government source told Anadolu that Naqvi would share "some new proposals" with the Iranian leadership to resolve the standoff, which continues to take a toll on the global economy and trade.
The source, however, did not give details of the fresh proposals.
Naqvi, along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshall Asim Munir, has been actively involved in the mediation process.
Asif also said that "things are shaping up in favor of peace," but did not give details of any breakthrough.
"The signals in the last two three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement," he added.
A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that talks between Iran and Oman about reopening Hormuz to some maritime shipping have reached an "advanced stage."
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 and launched negotiations toward a final agreement. However, the talks later stalled over disagreements on security guarantees and freedom of navigation through Hormuz, one of the world's most strategic routes for global energy supplies and trade.
On July 8-24, the US and Iran exchanged military strikes, with Washington launching attacks on targets inside Iran and Tehran responding by striking what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
