Trump: Iran Agrees to Permanent Nuclear Inspections, Hormuz Open

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly a fifth of global oil consumption. Ship traffic through the strait hit war-era highs in 2025 after a Saudi-Iran rapprochement, with transits surging as regional tensions eased. An agreement to keep the strait open removes a key risk premium from crude and from tanker equities. Shares of tanker companies fell on the news, extending a slide from recent highs, traders said.

The claim of permanent inspections, if implemented, would mark a departure from the temporary-access model of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The absence of concrete verification protocols and independent sign-off from a monitoring agency left the announcement facing the same credibility questions as prior verbal deals, traders and analysts said.

Israel's government has not commented. The U.S. State Department referred questions to the White House. Broader Middle East shipping routes across the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb remain under separate risk from Houthi attacks, which were not addressed in the announcement.

The next concrete test will come when the International Atomic Energy Agency issues its next quarterly report on Iran's compliance.