Iran live updates: Iran says framework of Oman agreement finalized

U.S. negotiations with Iran have progressed this week, Vice President JD Vance said on Saturday, but he stressed that the conflict is not over.

"I try to remind people we're really in the middle of the game here. This thing is not over. It’s obviously not at the beginning, we’re in the middle of the game. And we’re applying a whole host of tools, diplomatic, economic, military tools to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people,” Vance said during an interview on Fox News.

"They're hurting in a big way. They want this thing to be over. The question is whether they're able, their system is able, to give the things that are necessary for us to be happy, for us to feel like we've gotten what we need out of this particular engagement. That is still to be determined," he said.

Vance said the current negotiations are focused on conditions for the U.S. to "maximize oil and gas" coming out of the Strait of Hormuz so that "Americans can enjoy lower gas and energy prices."

Pressed on the fact that Iranians have said they’re looking to tighten their grip on the strait amid the negotiations, Vance rejected that premise, saying there are active talks going on -- including other Gulf states -- about how to allow for safe flow of traffic through the Strait.

Oman's foreign ministry stressed the importance of avoiding actions that could impact "ongoing" negotiations with Iran regarding the navigation through the Strait of Hormuz in a statement Saturday.

Oman condemned the "repeated attacks" of ships passing through the strait. The statement did not mention Iran directly, but urged against acts "that could affect these negotiations and the progress achieved, which takes into account the interests of all parties."

Oman said negotiations were "proceeding in a positive and constructive atmosphere."

This comes after the United Arab Emirates blamed Iran for targeting a ship used by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson Gen. Hossein Mohebbi told reporters the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is "completely independent" of the negotiation process between Iran and Oman, and that it has its own strategic waterway and legal defensive mechanisms, according to Tasnim news agency.

Mohebbi stressed the strategic importance of the waterway, saying that in the Islamic Republic’s calculations, the Strait of Hormuz is not merely an economic passage and waterway but rather represents the country’s superior geopolitical capacity and power, which is utilized in accordance with Iran’s defense and sovereignty policies.

The reopening of the strait is entirely subject to conditions that Iran has formally established and communicated, Mohebbi said. He added that the manner and timing of its reopening directly depend on the extent to which the U.S. accepts those conditions.

He said the U.S. must completely refrain from interfering in negotiations between Iran and Oman or other regional countries, which, he said, are in their final stages.

“Whenever the American side accepts the conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and abandons its interventionist approach, the conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz will certainly be provided,” Mohebbi concluded.

The United Arab Emirates is condemning an Iranian missile attack against a ship affiliated with the Abu Dhabi National Oil company (ADNOC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Saturday.

No injuries were reported.

"Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps,' the statement said.

The Emirates News Agency said the ADNOC vessel was targeted early Saturday, and the situation was under control.