President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's latest conditional offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear negotiations, telling aides he expects to return to bombing the country after November's midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Trump later confirmed to reporters that he had turned down the proposal, saying simply: "They made a proposal but I rejected it."
The reported decision marks a hardening of Washington's position at a moment when the conflict with Iran is already reshaping security calculations across the Middle East and rattling global energy markets. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which a large share of the world's oil shipments pass, remains one of the most strategically sensitive chokepoints on the planet. Any sustained disruption there would carry immediate consequences for crude prices, shipping insurance costs and inflation expectations worldwide.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran was prepared to reopen the strait and restart nuclear talks with the United States within seven days if the Trump administration accepted its conditions. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Araghchi said: "If certain conditions are met, the Strait of Hormuz will be open at the end of seven days, and talks will be restarted."
Those conditions, according to Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, include a halt to what Tehran calls U.S. "acts of aggression," an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets. The offer suggested a possible off-ramp after weeks of escalating confrontation, but Trump's rejection indicates that the White House is not prepared to trade de-escalation for concessions on terms set by Tehran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has privately told staff he is skeptical Iran would meet his demands and views a renewed bombing campaign as likely. The paper also said a U.S. official described Washington and Tehran as still engaged in negotiations through mediators, including over American demands intended to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. CNBC said it could not immediately confirm the report.
Trump has previously said he expects the war, which he said began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, to end shortly after the midterms and for oil prices to fall afterward. But the latest reporting suggests the administration is preparing for a prolonged standoff rather than a near-term diplomatic breakthrough.
The broader regional picture remains volatile. While direct fighting between U.S. and Iranian forces has eased in recent weeks, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and rival of Tehran. The Saudi-backed Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said it "intercepted and destroyed" two drones launched toward Riyadh and two ballistic missiles aimed at the Khamis Mushait region near Abha in the country's southwest. Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki announced the interceptions in a series of posts on X.
The Houthis said last Saturday that they had attacked "sensitive" sites in Riyadh shortly after flames and smoke were seen near the city's main airport. Saudi Arabia earlier this month said its air defenses destroyed a Houthi drone headed for Mecca, a claim the group denied. The exchange of attacks has reinforced fears that the conflict could widen further, even if direct U.S.-Iran clashes remain limited for now.
For energy traders, the stakes are immediate. The war has severely restricted energy shipments out of the Middle East, helping send oil prices sharply higher and stoking concerns about accelerating inflation globally. Yet crude still posted a steep weekly decline as Tehran and Washington held discussions on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, suggesting markets remain highly sensitive to even the possibility of diplomacy.
West Texas Intermediate fell 2.3% on the day to close at $92.41 a barrel, while Brent, the international benchmark, dropped 2.1% to settle at $104.32. For the week, U.S. crude finished 7.9% lower and Brent was flat. Even after the pullback, WTI remains up nearly 61% year to date, while Brent is more than 71% higher over the same period.
The combination of rejected diplomacy, missile interceptions and fragile back-channel talks leaves the region in a precarious balance. For now, the Strait of Hormuz remains open, but the political and military pressures surrounding it are intensifying, with global markets watching every signal from Washington, Tehran and Riyadh.