US-Iran war and Hormuz negotiations

What’s on screen and what’s said

Every word in the video, in order, with the Guardian article it comes from. On-screen labels are in small capitals; narrated lines are marked Narration.

Sound. Narration by a synthetic British voice (Kokoro’s “Emma”), generated offline, over a low drone with a sea-like wash. The February strikes are marked by muted low pulses, not explosions. A slowing count runs under the cost figure, a soft chime marks each stage of Iran’s offer, and the video ends on an unresolved chord and a slow clock for the wait for Trump’s answer.

1. 0:00

   Title

   Guardian reporting, 14–25 September 2026

2. 0:02

   February

   The US and Israel strike Iran2

   Iran4

   Oman5

   Strait of Hormuz3

   Diagram, not to scale

3. 0:04

   Since early in the war

   Iran grips the strait of Hormuz2

   a key waterway for transporting oil3

   Narration Iran has kept a stranglehold on energy shipping through the strait of Hormuz.2

4. 0:09

   15 September

   The war has cost at least1

   $38bn1

   so far, says Congress’s budget office, and $3bn more each month1

   The House votes to end the war, for the third time1

   For 2201

   Against 2041

   None of the votes has reached Trump’s desk1

5. 0:14

   22 September

   At the UN, Trump calls for the “complete economic isolation of Iran”2

   He also calls talks with Iran “very productive”3

   Narration Trump called for Iran’s complete economic isolation.2

6. 0:18

   24 September

   Iran says it has offered to reopen the strait in six days4

   Days 1–5

   The US would lift its blockade and end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon5

   Day 6

   The strait would reopen5

   Day 7

   Nuclear talks would start5

   Proposed route: Oman and Iran5

   Narration Iran says it has offered to reopen the strait, if the US meets its conditions.4

7. 0:24

   What happens next

   Iran is waiting for Trump’s answer4

   Iran’s foreign minister wants a deal before the US midterm elections4

8. 0:27

   End card