- Iranian officials privately admitted to US officials that recent Strait of Hormuz attacks were a "mistake"
- The officials blamed attacks on rogue hardliners aiming to disrupt ongoing negotiations
- US demands Iran publicly acknowledge ceasefire violation before talks progress
Senior US officials have claimed that Iranian representatives privately reached out to advisers to US President Donald Trump, admitting that the recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz were a mistake and insisting they were not ordered by Iran's leadership.
According to CBS News, the US officials said Tehran blamed the incidents on an "errant" faction of hardliners that allegedly acted to derail ongoing negotiations.
"They came back to the table and said, 'We screwed up. We made a mistake. Let's keep talking,'" one US official said.
The Trump administration has nonetheless made its expectations clear. Before negotiations move forward, the White House wants Iran to publicly acknowledge that the attacks violated the ceasefire.
Trump has instructed his negotiating team, Vice President JD Vance, senior adviser Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to press ahead with talks scheduled.
"We're definitely in a wait-and-see moment," another US official said.
A key test will be whether Iran agrees to restore normal passage through the Strait of Hormuz. US officials expect Tehran to confirm after the Oman meeting that the strategic waterway will once again operate as it did before the conflict.
If that assurance does not come, the consequences could be swift.
If that is not their position, the official said, it's not going to be a great day for them, one official warned.
While Iran has reportedly argued that rogue hardliners were behind the shipping attacks, US officials are unconvinced. They believe Tehran changed course after being surprised by the volume of oil and gas shipments using the southern shipping lane along Oman's coast, despite earlier understandings that the route would remain open.
The administration says Trump is still leaving room for diplomacy, but not indefinitely. Officials described the window for striking a deal as limited, adding that Washington is prepared to use both military and economic pressure if Iran resumes hostile actions.
The discussions are also expected to shape the future of negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
Officials said the US would ideally like to recover what Trump has referred to as the "nuclear dust", the remnants of Iran's nuclear programme. But they cautioned that if Iran refuses to behave like a "normal country", Washington has other options, including leaving those remnants buried.
One official said there is little point discussing the far more complex nuclear dispute if Iran cannot uphold what Washington sees as the most basic commitment, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to international trade.
