A peace deal between the USA and Iran is 'tantalisingly close', according to an ill-informed member of the White House press office. The only stumbling block is how to divide up the tolls on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US President has previously opposed charging tolls on shipping, but is coming round to the idea - as long as the US gets a decent share.
Donald Trump's typically bullish demand is for 120% of the tariffs to be taken by the US, although it's not clear how this would work. He also demanded that US ships should be exempt from the tariffs. His concession was that Iran could set the tolls 'as high as they like'.
Iran suggested splitting tariff revenue fifty-fifty, with an adjustment to allow for the cost of damage in Iran caused by US bombing. The effect of the adjustment is that Iran would get 100% of the tariffs for 170 years (based on the current level of damage), before reverting to a fifty-fifty share after that.
US negotiators are confident that they can close the gap. They have suggested that all the repair work in Iran should be done by US contractors, but Iran has rejected this because of concerns about security.
'We have lots of ideas to help us seal a deal,' said an over-confident American. 'We'll have this sorted real soon - probably in the next 45 minutes.'
