US hopeful Hormuz Strait deal will be done 'today or tomorrow' after ship hit

The United States was hopeful on Tuesday that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be done "today or tomorrow," a top US official said. The statement came hours after another cargo ship was hit in the vital waterway. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the comments to broadcaster CNBC.

Was a ship hit in the Strait of Hormuz?

Yes. Another cargo ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, the latest in a series of attacks in the waterway. The incident came even as US officials expressed optimism about reopening the strait through an imminent deal with Iran. It underscores how fighting has repeatedly flared around the strategic passage despite ongoing diplomacy.

What did Bessent and Trump say about a deal?

Bessent told CNBC "there is a chance we may have a deal" in the coming hours, a day after President Donald Trump said the strait might reopen on Tuesday. Speaking from the White House on Monday, Trump continued his familiar mix of bullish optimism about diplomacy and bellicose threats. He warned that this was Iran's "last chance before decapitation."

Trump said he expected to know by Tuesday how the talks were going, "one way or the other," but insisted "it's not very complex." He said reopening Hormuz could come "literally by tomorrow," while denuclearizing Iran could "take a little while." He earlier called Tehran "duplicitous" on social media for saying it was not negotiating.

Can the US control the Strait of Hormuz?

Iran wants to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz and charge tolls for passage through it, powers it did not exercise before the war and which the US fiercely opposes. Trump pointed to a US counter-blockade of Iranian ports, saying "nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished." The strait remains a key conduit for global oil and gas supplies and the spark for repeated returns to fighting.

How did the US-Iran conflict reach this point?

Tehran and Washington have been at war since February 28, when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran. Despite a ceasefire and a preliminary deal in the months since, diplomacy has failed to end the conflict. Trump threatened last week to hit Iran "very hard," potentially targeting civilian infrastructure, before pulling back on Saturday and saying the "perimeters" of a deal were in place.

On Monday, Trump said he had agreed to continue pursuing talks with Iran at the request of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and other countries. Iran's foreign ministry denied that negotiations with Washington were taking place, even as Trump insisted "we are talking right now." Qatar, which has been mediating negotiations, said on Tuesday that diplomatic efforts were ongoing but that no direct Iran-US talks were planned.

More than five months into a war that has cost Washington billions of dollars, Iran remains able to fire missiles and drones at US and allied targets in the region and retains its enriched uranium stockpiles.