US and Iranian negotiators held indirect technical talks in Doha on July 1 with a narrow operational focus on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters reporting carried by gCaptain. The talks follow last month’s interim accord, but the latest round shows that the hard part now is not announcing a reopening, it is agreeing how ships move, who sets the rules and whether Gulf traffic can resume without new disruptions. Reuters said flows have only partially resumed, while Iran is seeking recognition of its control over the strait and the ability to levy fees.
For TankerMap readers, that keeps the story firmly in the shipping lane rather than the diplomatic lane. A patchy restart means tanker and LNG operators still face routing uncertainty, uneven confidence and limited transparency around actual transit conditions. TankerMap data context: Hormuz handled about one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade before the war, so even a partial and politically contested reopening can keep freight, port-call timing and fleet positioning unstable across Gulf export routes.