TEHRAN: Esmaeil Baqaei, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, on Tuesday said that the talks with Oman regarding safe routes in the Strait of Hormuz are positive, local media reported.

"These negotiations are being pursued as a dialogue between the two coastal countries of the Strait of Hormuz, focusing on determining safe return routes for ships; a route that, while ensuring sovereign rights, also takes into account national security considerations of Iran and Oman,” the spokesperson stated, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.

"The talks so far are assessed as positive at both the technical and political levels, and Iran is trying, in cooperation with Oman, to develop the necessary mechanisms for future arrangements for managing shipping traffic in this strategic passage," he added

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also noted that the final results of these talks will be announced after they are concluded.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that a deal with Iran could be reached on Tuesday or Wednesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"We are in talks with the Iranians, and I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalised position in this conflict," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC, Xinhua News Agency reported.

When asked whether Iran would be allowed to charge a toll on ships that pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the US Treasury Secretary said, "It would be freedom of movement."

He added that prices should fall further when hundreds of ships stuck in the Gulf can exit, noting that the impact extends beyond energy to include fertilisers, refined petroleum products, and industrial gases.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that while the United States sees the denuclearisation of Iran as its "ultimate deal," reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is the "immediate" one.

"So the denuclearisation of Iran is the ultimate deal. I think the immediate deal, the one that you see a lot of focus on, is the Strait," Rubio told reporters.

--IANS