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Conflict & Security493 outlets ran this5 min read

Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz Strait

US vice-president describes Iranians as 'extremely difficult people' while Trump says agreement is imminent

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

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Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz Strait

What this story says

  • US Vice President JD Vance said negotiations with Iran would be 'messy' and 'take some time', calling Iranians 'extremely difficult people' in a Fox News interview.
  • President Donald Trump said an agreement to reopen the Hormuz Strait was 'right around the corner', possibly within days, as reported by Aftenposten.
  • Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said communicating with the country’s leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was 'very difficult' due to his limited public appearances.
  • No centre-rated outlet reported on the story, leaving a gap in coverage between left and right-leaning publications.

Who covered it

Left 28%(87)Centre 44%(134)Right 28%(84)

Percentages are shares of the 305 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 188 of the 493 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

74/100

Craft

58/100

Hype

32/100

493 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 87 of the 305 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.

US Vice President JD Vance said negotiations with Iran would be a prolonged and difficult process. In an interview with Fox News, Vance described the situation as 'messy' and said it would 'take some time' to reach a resolution. He called Iranians 'extremely difficult people' and acknowledged that progress appeared slow.

President Donald Trump said an agreement to reopen the Hormuz Strait was close to being finalised. Speaking to journalists, Trump said a deal could be announced 'tomorrow or the next day', as reported by Aftenposten. Axios, citing unnamed sources, said the agreement between the US, Iran and Oman required only the approval of Iran’s leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and its national security council.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said communicating with Mojtaba Khamenei was 'very difficult' due to his limited public appearances. Khamenei has not appeared in public since his appointment, following an attack that injured him. Pezeshkian told state television that Khamenei’s presence provided strength to continue negotiations, despite the challenges.

What the reports agree on

All reports agree that Vance described negotiations with Iran as difficult and time-consuming. The digests from The Hindu Business Line, Tribune India, Unknown (Alquds), Crypto Briefing and CNN Brasil, along with Aftenposten’s full report, confirm Vance’s remarks about the complexity of the talks. They also agree that Trump said a deal on the Hormuz Strait was imminent, though none specify a timeline beyond 'days'.

What the coverage left out

No centre-rated outlet reported on the story. None of the right-rated digests mentioned Pezeshkian’s statement about the difficulty of communicating with Khamenei, though Aftenposten’s full report included it. The left-rated digest from Mediaite did not report Trump’s claim that a deal was imminent or the role of Oman in the negotiations.

Tags:#USIranNegotiations#HormuzStrait#JDVance#DonaldTrump#IranLeadership#MiddleEastSecurity

Coverage settled. We checked this 50 times and stopped on 11 Aug 2026, 16:00. 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

87 rated outlets

  • The left-rated reports agree that Iran and Oman are close to an agreement on managing the Strait of Hormuz, but that the waterway will not reopen without further U.S. concessions. Seven of the 12 outlets carry Iran’s demand for sanctions relief and compensation. Cumhuriyet and CNBC add that Vice President JD Vance called negotiations with Iran difficult and said the U.S. would use military, economic and diplomatic tools to secure its aims.
  • Cumhuriyet’s full report quotes Vance describing Iranians as “difficult people” and the Iranian government as “a complex structure.” It also reports Vance’s claim that some Israeli officials oppose a U.S.-Iran deal. CNBC’s full report focuses on market reactions, noting that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s statement of imminent progress drove down oil prices before any deal materialised.
  • None of the 12 reports lead on Trump’s claim that a deal is near. The Independent and Sydney Morning Herald digests omit Vance’s remarks entirely. The Associated Press, abc News, CNN, The Washington Post, ABC Australia and Stuff digests do not mention Vance’s characterisation of the Iranian government or his comments on Israeli opposition.

Centre

134 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated outlets led on Iran and Oman nearing an agreement over the Strait of Hormuz. Twelve reports carried the Iranian foreign minister’s statement that the two countries were “very close” to a deal on a new shipping route. Nine included the UAE’s claim that Iran had attacked another ship in the strait.
  • Eight digests noted Iran’s condition that the strait would only reopen if the US accepted Tehran’s terms. The Egypt Independent and CTV News quoted Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi saying the US must stop interfering in regional negotiations. The Egypt Independent also carried JD Vance’s remark that negotiations would “be messy”.
  • None of the digests mentioned Vance’s description of Iranians as “extraordinarily difficult people” or his reference to Iran’s “fractured system”. The CTV News report included the US official’s statement that Washington would lift the blockade once a deal was announced.

Right

84 rated outlets

  • The right-rated digests from The Hindu Business Line, Tribune India, Unknown (Alquds), Arutz Sheva and ussanews.com all led on Vance’s description of Iranians as 'extremely difficult people' or 'difficult to deal with'. Tribune India and Unknown (Alquds) added that Iran’s leadership was 'fractured' or 'divided'. Aftenposten’s full report quoted Vance directly and included Trump’s claim that a deal was 'right around the corner', as well as Pezeshkian’s remarks about Khamenei.
  • Arutz Sheva’s digest focused on Vance’s characterisation of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as 'frank but pleasant', omitting any reference to Iran’s internal divisions or the Hormuz Strait negotiations. ussanews.com’s digest led on conservative criticism of Vance for 'undermining' Trump, framing his remarks as contradictory to the president’s messaging.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz…?
Of the 305 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 493. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 305 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 Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz… biased?
Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz Strait is one event reported by 493 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 Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz…?
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 Vance calls Iran negotiations messy as Trump claims deal near Hormuz…?
493 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 did JD Vance say about negotiations with Iran?
JD Vance said negotiations with Iran would be 'messy' and 'take some time', describing Iranians as 'extremely difficult people'. He acknowledged slow progress in an interview with Fox News, as reported by Aftenposten and other outlets.
What did Donald Trump say about the Hormuz Strait deal?
Donald Trump said an agreement to reopen the Hormuz Strait was 'right around the corner' and could be announced within days. This was reported by Aftenposten, citing Trump’s remarks to journalists.
Why is communicating with Iran’s leader difficult?
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said communicating with Mojtaba Khamenei was 'very difficult' because Khamenei has not made public appearances since his appointment. This was reported by Aftenposten.
Which outlets reported on the story?
The story was reported by one left-rated outlet (Mediaite), five right-rated outlets (Aftenposten, The Hindu Business Line, Tribune India, Unknown (Alquds), Arutz Sheva, ussanews.com) and three unrated outlets (Nettavisen, Crypto Briefing, CNN Brasil). No centre-rated outlet covered it.

Read it at the source

599 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

95
Show 87 more

Centre

140
Show 132 more

Right

117
Show 109 more

Not rated

247
Show 239 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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