US demanding Iran publicly vow to stop attacks in Hormuz and forswear tolls on ships

The United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that all lanes in the strait will be open to shipping with no tolls, senior US officials said Friday.

Iran has adamantly refused to give up control of the strait, the strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply typically flows, and which, prior to the war, was traversed freely by vessels. Earlier this week, three ships, including a Qatari gas tanker, were allegedly attacked by Iran, causing damage but no injuries.

The string of Iranian attacks revived concerns about freedom of navigation after a memorandum of understanding that the US and Iran reached last month required Tehran to lift its blockade of the waterway.

The US officials said Friday that conversations between the two countries have been productive in recent days. They made the comments to a small group of reporters in a conference call.

“What we’re demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement that acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open, and they’re not shooting at ships anymore. They’re either going to give us that statement, or we’re not having a good outcome for them,” one official said.

Iran has told Washington that recent attacks on shipping in the strait were from “an errant part of their system,” one senior official said.

There appears to be a power struggle unfolding in real time between hardliners in Iran and pragmatists, an official said.

“We are hoping to get to a place where they publicly say that they will stop shooting at ships and sort of explicitly or at least implicitly acknowledging that they screwed up. We are working on that now,” one official said.

“The president has directed us to talk but as he’s shown a willingness to do, if they keep on shooting at ships or they engage on any other hostile acts, then we’re going to hit them back,” the official said.

The remarks came ahead of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s arrival in Oman on Saturday to discuss arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, with CBS News and its UK partner the BBC both reporting that US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to lead negotiations on Saturday with the top Iranian diplomat. Iran’s Fars news agency later cited a source saying no negotiations would take place until the US retreated from its positions.

“There can only be mutual compliance,” Araghchi wrote on X, accusing the US of violating the ceasefire agreement for revoking the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude after this week’s attacks on ships.

The fundamental demand from the US side is that Iran turn over its nuclear materials. Tehran is believed to possess more than 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium, which Trump and other US officials have called “nuclear dust.”

The nuclear issue is supposed to be dealt with within a 60-day period for negotiations based on the MOU.

“I just want to be clear here that if we don’t get the dust, we do not have a deal with Iran,” one official said.

The official added that “we have a lot of options” if Iran refuses, including military and economic options.

Satellite images show renewed activity at nuclear sites

Meanwhile, satellite imagery obtained by CNN showed Iran may be trying to rebuild its nuclear facilities during the fragile ceasefire in the war with the US and Israel.

The images from several nuclear and missile sites suggest that Iran may have violated the MOU it signed with the US last month, in which it committed to maintaining the status quo in its nuclear program.

At one nuclear facility, in Parchin, where explosive material for nuclear bombs is thought to be held, images from June and this month show efforts to repair holes made by bunker-busting bombs during the recent war.

CNN Exclusive: New satellite imagery reveals Iran may be rebuilding suspected nuclear facilities. https://t.co/TW9aorqbHa pic.twitter.com/SVtd5GziX6

— CNN (@CNN) July 10, 2026

The images were analyzed in conjunction with the Institute for Science and International Security, which has published previous reports on Iranian efforts to build out nuclear facilities.

Images also show trucks going in and out of the facility at Pickaxe Mountain, another suspected nuclear site, as well as construction activity at missile sites.

US stealth fighters depart Israeli airbase

Despite the rising tensions between the US and Iran, the American military withdrew its advanced stealth fighter jets from an Israeli airbase in southern Israel on Friday.

At least 10 F-22 stealth fighters that were deployed at the Israeli Air Force’s Ovda base flew to RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom on their way back to the US.

Footage posted to social media shows the jets landing at the British airbase.

Two of the x10 F-22A Raptors landing at RAF Fairford this morning TREND42 08-171 and TREND43 08-175 pic.twitter.com/YwzdMiD3Gq

— UK Aviation Movies (@Aviation_Movies) July 10, 2026

The F-22, operated exclusively by the US Air Force, is the world’s most advanced air-superiority fighter, built for unmatched speed, maneuverability and stealth in air-to-air combat.

The jets were deployed to Israel ahead of the war with Iran.