Washington: US intelligence officials say Iran can now disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a risk that remains even as Washington prepares to finalise a new deal with Tehran, CNN reported on Wednesday.
Sources familiar with the assessment told CNN that Tehran has the means to stop traffic in the strategic waterway if it chooses, raising fears that a diplomatic agreement may not remove threats to Gulf shipping. Officials told the network they believe Iran’s grip on the strait could persist despite the framework expected to be signed on Friday.
Some intelligence figures view the development as one of the most significant outcomes of the recent conflict, the report said, quoting a source close to US assessments who argued Iran had gained leverage beyond its nuclear programme.
“We have now handed Iran de facto control over the strait – a weapon more powerful than any nuke,” the source told CNN.
The assessment also referred to Iran’s prior attacks on energy infrastructure and strikes aimed at US forces in neighbouring countries, which officials say add to Tehran’s ability to threaten regional sea routes.
Washington has been negotiating to ensure the Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened, CNN said. Vice President JD Vance stressed the strait’s importance while discussing the Switzerland-hosted agreement due to be signed on Friday.
Speaking about the deal, Vance said it would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and keep the strait open. “It says, one, Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, two, the Straits of Hormuz are open, and number 3, there are all of these benefits contemplated that the Iranians can get if they behave… If they don’t [behave], they don’t get anything,” he told reporters.
But shipping industry officials and maritime experts told CNN that uncertainty over the agreement’s final text could keep commercial traffic below normal for weeks or months.
President Donald Trump said the full agreement will be made public soon. Speaking at the G7 in France during a meeting with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Trump said he expected to release the document after a formal announcement.
“I’d like to get a formal setting first before we do that, but I have no problem with that. It’s a great document,” he said.
Trump also repeated what he called the deal’s core promise. “Here’s what it says: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he told journalists.
CNN reported Trump electronically signed the agreement on Sunday, but the full text has not yet been published.
