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Conflict & Security352 outlets ran this4 min read

US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a deal could be announced within days, but no agreement has been finalised

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman

What this story says

  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said talks with Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz have made progress but no final agreement exists yet.
  • A Saudi source told Al-Arabiya a deal could be announced within hours or days, though this remains unconfirmed by the US.
  • Qatar and Pakistan are working with Oman to facilitate dialogue between Iran and the US, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • No left-rated outlet reported on the story, leaving the political framing of the talks unrepresented in that segment of the press.

Who covered it

Left 28%(68)Centre 44%(109)Right 28%(70)

Percentages are shares of the 247 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 105 of the 352 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

55/100

Craft

55/100

Hype

55/100

352 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 68 of the 247 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Negotiations between the United States, Iran and Oman to increase commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have made progress, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 16 July 2026. Rubio told reporters at the State Department that while discussions had advanced, no final agreement had been reached. He added that a deal could be concluded "very shortly".

A source told Saudi state-owned outlet Al-Arabiya that an announcement on the Strait of Hormuz could come within hours or days. The US has not confirmed this timeline. Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Qatar and Pakistan were working with Oman to facilitate communication between Iran and the US. Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari, advisor to Qatar’s Prime Minister, said the goal was to reduce tensions and restore commercial shipping to pre-war levels.

What the coverage left out

No left-rated outlet reported on the story. None of the right-rated digests mentioned Qatar’s role in mediating between Iran and the US, or the Saudi source’s claim that a deal could be announced within hours or days. The Jerusalem Post was the only outlet to include Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari’s statement on restoring pre-war shipping levels.

Tags:#StraitOfHormuz#USIranTalks#MiddleEastShipping#OmanMediation#QatarDiplomacy

Coverage settled. We checked this 9 times and stopped on 10 Aug 2026, 00:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

68 rated outlets

  • Left-rated outlets led on the warning from Donald Trump that the current talks were Iran’s final opportunity to reach an agreement before military action. All 12 reports carried his statement that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen as early as 4 August 2026. Eleven digests and one full report included his insistence that no tolls would be imposed on shipping.
  • The full report in rbc.ua quoted Trump saying the talks were progressing quickly and that the second phase would address Iran’s nuclear programme. Ten digests repeated his claim that the negotiations were Iran’s “last chance” to avoid an attack. None of the digests mentioned the cost of reopening the strait or the number of vessels affected.
  • Eight digests and the rbc.ua report carried Trump’s remark that Gulf allies had asked the US to continue talks instead of launching strikes. The rbc.ua article also quoted his threat of “decapitation” if Iran did not sign a deal. No left-rated outlet in the sample quoted an Iranian or Omani official.

Centre

109 rated outlets

  • The Jerusalem Post led on Rubio’s statement that progress had been made but no final agreement reached. It included the Saudi source’s claim that a deal could be announced within hours or days, attributing it to Al-Arabiya. The report also carried Qatar’s confirmation of its role in mediating between Iran and the US, and quoted Dr. Majid bin Mohammed Al-Ansari on the aim of restoring pre-war shipping levels.

Right

70 rated outlets

  • Both right-rated digests, from Protothema and Daily Sabah, led on Rubio’s statement that talks had made progress but no deal had been finalised. Protothema’s digest quoted Rubio directly: "There has been progress in the talks, but we have not yet reached the final conclusion. We hope that will happen very soon." Daily Sabah’s digest noted that discussions were with Iran and Oman on increasing commercial shipping, but did not mention the Saudi source’s claim of an imminent announcement or Qatar’s mediation role.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman?
Of the 247 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 28% are rated left, 44% are rated centre, 28% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 352. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 247 rated outlets on this story, 28% are rated left, 44% are rated centre, 28% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman biased?
US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman is one event reported by 352 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered US reports progress in Hormuz shipping talks with Iran and Oman?
352 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What progress has been made in the Hormuz shipping talks?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said talks with Iran and Oman have made progress, but no final agreement has been reached. A Saudi source suggested a deal could be announced within days, though the US has not confirmed this timeline.
Who is mediating the talks between the US and Iran?
Qatar and Pakistan are working with Oman to facilitate communication between Iran and the US, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal is to reduce tensions and restore commercial shipping to pre-war levels.
Which outlets reported on the Hormuz shipping talks?
The Jerusalem Post, Protothema and Daily Sabah reported on the talks. No left-rated outlet covered the story, and the right-rated digests omitted Qatar’s mediation role and the Saudi source’s claim of an imminent deal.

Read it at the source

574 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

100
Show 92 more

Centre

164
Show 156 more

Right

126
Show 118 more

Not rated

184
Show 176 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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