Pakistan’s defense minister said the U.S. and Iran are “close to some sort of arrangement” over the Strait of Hormuz, even after both sides appeared to toughen their positions in the long-deadlocked negotiations.

“Things are shaping up in favor of peace,” Khawaja Asif told reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday, without giving details of any breakthrough. Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, the Islamic Republic’s semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

Talks between Iran and Oman about reopening Hormuz to some maritime shipping have reached an advanced stage, Al Jazeera reported earlier, citing a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Pakistan has been mediating the conflict, alongside Qatar.