The United States and Iran remain deadlocked over control of the Strait of Hormuz even as a month-old ceasefire is expected to hold, an analyst said Wednesday (May 6), one day after President Donald Trump paused a U.S. military operation to guide stranded ships through the contested waterway.

Trump said on Tuesday he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing "great progress" toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran.

Hours earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had outlined the effort that began on Monday to escort stranded tankers out of the Gulf. The strait has been virtually shut since the conflict began, blocking some 20% of world oil supplies and igniting a global energy crisis.

Both sides remained locked in a standoff neither could resolve, Academic Director of the Public Policy Institute, Jessica Genauer, said.

"We're a little bit stuck with both the Iranian regime and the U.S. military trying to get control over the strait, not really succeeding," she said, adding that "ongoing tit for tat" around the waterway meant a full return to normal shipping was unlikely for months, with serious consequences for the global economy.

The nuclear question remains the central obstacle to any lasting agreement. Washington has demanded Iran commit to zero enrichment — a position Tehran has rejected. Genauer said Trump's position was complicated further by his need to outdo his predecessor: any deal he strikes, she said, would have to be demonstrably stronger than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated under President Barack Obama's administration, adding a layer of domestic political pressure to an already fraught negotiation.

A delicate diplomatic balancing act was on display on Wednesday as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing - a visit that comes one week before Trump is due to travel to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping on May 14 and 15.

Araqchi on Wednesday released images of him shaking hands with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing. Reuters could not confirm the date and location. No older versions of the pictures were found posted online before May 6. Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Wang Yi has begun a meeting with Araqchi in Beijing on Wednesday (May 6).

Genauer said Beijing had been careful to avoid taking sides publicly, offering quiet support to Tehran while stopping well short of open confrontation with Washington - a posture she said was likely to leave China "looking better than the U.S. on the international stage" once the crisis subsides.