Iran Calls the US Reply on Hormuz 'Inadequate' as Two Indian Seafarers Go Missing After a Tanker Is Hit Off Oman
Tehran says Washington accepted only some of its seven conditions, mediators in Qatar and Pakistan are still in play, and the drone strike off Sohar shows how little the talks have changed at sea.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026/2 min read
Talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz hit a wall on Sunday night, and the waterway itself had a bad weekend. Iran's top security official called the American reply to its terms inadequate, and within the same 24 hours a drone struck a tanker at anchor off Oman, leaving two Indian crew members missing.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X late on Sunday that the United States had accepted some of Tehran's seven conditions but that its overall response fell short, Gulf News reported. He did not say which conditions Washington had accepted. He also accused the US fleet of failing to reopen the strait and said there would be "no return to the status quo ante."
What does Iran want before the strait reopens?
The seven conditions were laid out at the UN General Assembly and offer to reopen the strait within seven days if they are met. They include ending the American naval blockade, ending the war on all fronts and releasing frozen Iranian assets, items that also featured in a June memorandum agreed in Islamabad, according to Arab News.
On Monday the foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Tehran was still reviewing the US reply and would answer when done. He said Pakistan and Qatar remain the mediators. The central dispute is sequence: Washington wants Iran's nuclear programme addressed from the start, while Tehran wants talks to begin with reopening the strait. US officials had not replied publicly by the time of the report.
What happened to the tanker off Sohar?
On Sunday 11 October the Nicaragua-flagged tanker MT Petro Dolphin was hit by a drone at Sohar Anchorage in Oman, India's shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said. Nine of the 11 Indian crew members were rescued and two are missing, with the Omani coast guard leading the search, The Tribune reported, citing ANI.
The same day the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Valthera was struck by an unidentified projectile in the strait and caught fire, though all 11 Indian seafarers aboard were reported safe. On 9 October the tanker Gem No. 2, with 22 Indians aboard, was hit by a drone at Sharjah Anchorage; all were reported safe. India's foreign ministry condemned the attacks and called for de-escalation. No one has publicly claimed the Petro Dolphin strike, and we are not attributing it.
What happens next?
Iran's reply to Washington is the next marker. Our earlier report on the Hormuz impasse set the US defence secretary's "ironclad" blockade line against Iran's insistence that there is no military solution, and nothing from Sunday suggests either side has moved. For crews waiting at anchor, the practical question is simpler: whether any agreement arrives before the next drone does.
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