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Trump Turns Down Iran's Offer to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

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Trump rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, saying the US already has control of the waterway. Tehran awaits mediators' views.

US President Donald Trump has turned down an Iranian offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels within seven days, telling reporters at the White House on Saturday that the proposal was not one Washington could accept. "I'm rejecting their deal," he said, arguing that the United States already held "total control" of the waterway and that "massive amounts of oil" were already moving through it.

Trump said Tehran was pressing for an immediate reopening because it was "losing so badly," and framed the request as a sign of Iranian weakness. "They want to make a deal, and I think that's fine. I like making a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable," he added.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded in a post on Telegram, saying Tehran had noted the president's remarks but would hold off on any move until it heard back formally from mediators. He wrote that Trump "has made many good statements, as well as many contradictory ones, which unfortunately we hear frequently," and said Iran would await the "definitive views" of the mediators before deciding how to proceed.

The strait, which normally carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments, has been effectively shut since fighting broke out in February. Its closure has sent energy prices swinging sharply and added to the domestic pressure on Trump to bring the conflict to a close, with US Congressional elections due in November.

Speaking to reporters at the United Nations in New York on Friday, Araghchi had set out the Iranian position in more detail. He said passage through the strait could return to normal "within seven days" provided "the necessary conditions are met." Those conditions, he stressed, were not fresh demands but steps already written into a memorandum of understanding the two governments signed in June. "The actions that the United States should take are not new," he said. "They are all already in the MOU. The choice now rests with the United States."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pointed to the same document in an interview with CBS News. He said the two sides had earlier settled on terms based on the memorandum, which was signed in Pakistan, and that a return to the previous status quo was possible if Washington was willing. "If the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before," he said.

The 14-point memorandum was drawn up to secure a ceasefire and to at least partially restore traffic through the strait. Among its provisions was a commitment that Iran would never acquire a nuclear weapon.

Prospects for reviving that framework, however, appear slim. Kirsten Fontenrose, who sat on the National Security Council during Trump's first term, told the BBC that there was little enthusiasm in Washington for reopening talks built around the memorandum, which is widely regarded there as a poor bargain. She said Iran was "pushing against a very closed door."

Reporting on Friday suggested the US president shares that skepticism. According to the Wall Street Journal, officials said Trump doubted Iran would meet his conditions and had told his staff he considered a fresh bombing campaign likely. Trump has also warned publicly that he would "annihilate" Iran if no agreement is reached.

The current standoff traces back to air strikes launched by the United States and Israel in late February. Iran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases across the Gulf, hitting Arab Gulf states allied with Washington, and moving to block the Strait of Hormuz - the choke point that has since become central to the dispute.

For now, the two capitals remain far apart. Tehran says the path to reopening the waterway is already spelled out and that the decision lies with Washington. Trump insists the offer on the table is unacceptable and maintains that US forces command the strait regardless. Araghchi's message leaves Iran's next step tied to what the mediators conclude, keeping the fate of one of the world's most important shipping lanes unresolved.

Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump, Iran, Abbas Araghchi, Masoud Pezeshkian, oil prices, US Iran conflict, memorandum of understanding

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