BAGHDAD — Iraq has reached understandings with the United States to allow Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz via a shipping lane near Oman, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an interview with Al Jazeera, Reuters reported on Sunday, November 8. Hussein did not give the terms of the arrangement.

Source: Reuters via gCaptain

Hussein put Iraq's losses from the Iran war and disruptions to its oil exports at $60 billion — his figure, given in the interview. Al Jazeera's account of the interview reported that shipments have resumed after understandings were reached with both Washington and Tehran. The Iraqi government has not detailed how the lane arrangement will work in practice, and the US government has not publicly confirmed Hussein's characterisation of the understandings.

Source: Reuters via TradingView; Al Jazeera account summarised by Political.org

Washington's other request: close most Iran border crossings

Hussein also told Al Jazeera that the US Treasury has asked Iraq to close all of its border crossings with Iran except two — one of the exceptions being in the Kurdistan region — as part of Washington's policy of increasing economic pressure on Tehran, Reuters reported. He said that would be difficult and would hurt Iraq's economy, and talks on the request continue.

Source: Reuters via gCaptain

Why Hormuz is Iraq's lifeline

Iraq normally ships most of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway between Iran and Oman through which about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war, and oil sales provide about 90% of the Iraqi government's budget revenue. That is why the strait's closure after the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, 2026 hit Baghdad so hard: exports fell sharply in September before the October recovery Hussein cited, and Iraq has also pushed more crude north through Turkey's Ceyhan port.

Source: Reuters via Political.org

The announcement lands on a day when the wider Hormuz picture remained tense but talks were still alive: Iran's Revolutionary Guards said two tankers had struck mines in the strait, and President Donald Trump told CNN on Sunday he was highly unlikely to order fresh attacks on Iran as long as talks to end the conflict progress — a separate Awaaz Punjab report carries that interview.

Source: Reuters via gCaptain

Trump's CNN remarks on Iran strikes and the talks are covered in our earlier report: Trump says fresh Iran strikes 'highly unlikely' if talks progress

What happens next

What happens next turns on details that have not been published: the terms of the lane arrangement, whether Tehran treats Iraqi cargoes using the Oman-side lane as covered by its own understandings, and whether export volumes hold at October's roughly 3.5 million barrels a day. Until Washington confirms the arrangement or shipping data shows sustained Iraqi transits, Hussein's statement stands as Baghdad's account of a deal its economy urgently needs — not yet a verified reopening of the strait for Iraqi crude.

Source: Reuters via gCaptain