(Bloomberg) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there may be “some good news” regarding the blocked Strait of Hormuz in the coming hours, as Iran and Washington press ahead with peace negotiations.

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“I do think there’s some good news on that front, but not final news,” Rubio told reporters on Sunday during a visit to India. “But perhaps a little bit later today we’ll have more to say.”

“Some progress has been made,” Rubio added, speaking alongside Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. “I don’t want to downplay that, but I also want to caveat it by saying we still have some work to do.”

The comments came after US President Donald Trump on Saturday said a deal to start bringing an end to the US-Israeli war on Iran was nearing completion, and that the reopening of the Hormuz strait — a crucial conduit for global energy — would be announced shortly.

“An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

While acknowledging progress, Iranian media and officials have been more circumspect. Washington and Tehran are still at odds over “one or two provisions,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing an “informed source.” The Fars agency, meanwhile, dismissed Trump’s claims as “far from reality,” without citing anyone.

Axios reported the pact would involve a 60-day extension of the current ceasefire, during which the strait would be reopened and Iran allowed to sell its oil. Further negotiations would follow on Tehran’s nuclear program, Axios said, citing a US official who wasn’t identified.

The draft was also said to stipulate that the parallel war between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon would end — a step Israel may be reluctant to endorse.

An Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a call with Trump late Saturday, emphasized that Israel will maintain freedom of action against threats in all arenas, including Lebanon. The US leader reiterated his support for this principle, the person said.

Netanyahu will hold security consultations with Israeli officials on Sunday evening, his spokeswoman said, without elaborating on what will be discussed.

Fars subsequently reported that the release of frozen Iranian funds and waivers on oil and petrochemical sanctions remain among the outstanding issues blocking a final deal.

The future status of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically flows, remains pivotal. Its effective closing in the wake of the US and Israel launching their war on Iran in late February has spurred a global energy crisis, piling economic pressure on governments far from the Middle East.

The Islamic Republic has suggested levying ships transiting the strait, and is urging the US to release a “significant portion” of its assets that are frozen overseas. It’s also rejecting demands to give up its uranium and halt enrichment, insisting it has no intention of building an atomic bomb.

Pakistan and regional neighbors including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar have been playing roles in the negotiations that seek to extend a fragile six-week-old ceasefire. Trump on Saturday spoke with some of their leaders about what he called a “Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE.”

Speaking Sunday, Rubio touted “some progress over the last 48 hours working with our partners in the Gulf region on an outline.”

If that succeeds, it could “leave us not just with a completely open straits — and I mean open straits without tolls — and with addressing some of the key things that underpin what has been Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions in the past,” he said.

Thousands of people have been killed since the conflict erupted, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. Iran responded by targeting Persian Gulf countries with drones and missile attacks.

The Key Sticking Points for a US-Iran Peace Deal: Explainer

The UAE has joined Qatar and Saudi Arabia in appealing to Trump to allow more time for negotiations, according to several people familiar with the matter.

With no end to the conflict, oil prices remain elevated above $100 a barrel. Higher fuel bills in the US are adding to domestic political pressure on Trump to make a deal, particularly ahead of November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Here’s more related to the Iran war:

  • Fars reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said 33 vessels, including oil tankers, container ships, and other commercial ships, crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours in coordination with the IRGC navy.

  • Risk proxies should start the week on a firmer footing on Iran de-escalation hopes but foreign-exchange markets may lag as key details around any deal remain unclear, according to Christopher Wong, forex strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

–With assistance from Salma El Wardany and Dan Williams.

(Updates with details on Trump-Netanyahu call in ninth paragraph.)

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