US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, spurning what Tehran had presented as a possible pathway to restoring commercial traffic through one of the world's most strategically vital waterways.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Saturday, Trump said Iran was seeking an agreement because it was under pressure. "They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," he said. He added bluntly: "I'm rejecting their deal."
Trump said the United States already had "total control" of the strait, with "massive amounts of oil" passing through it, even as independent shipping data points to a far more disrupted picture. According to Kpler, a recent 10-day average showed about 18 transits per day through the strait, with numbers falling as low as nine vessels on some days — a sharp indication of reduced traffic through a passage that normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and gas supply.
The rejection marks a significant setback for efforts to de-escalate a conflict that has effectively choked the Strait of Hormuz since war broke out in February. The closure, or near-closure, of the narrow maritime corridor has sent repeated shockwaves through global energy markets, contributing to wild price swings and intensifying concern among governments and traders over the security of supply.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had signaled on Friday that a deal remained possible. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations in New York, he said normal maritime passage could be restored quickly if Washington accepted terms already laid out in a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries in June. "If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal maritime passage restored within seven days," Araghchi said. "The actions that the United States should take are not new. They are all already in the MOU... The choice now rests with the United States."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reinforced that message in an interview with CBS News, the BBC's US partner, saying there had already been a framework for de-escalation. "We had previously reached an agreement based on the MOU that was signed in Pakistan... if the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before," he said.
But in Washington, there appears to be little appetite for reviving that framework. Kirsten Fontenrose, who served on the National Security Council during Trump's first administration, told the BBC that there was no interest in restarting talks around the June memorandum because it is viewed in the United States as a bad deal. Iran, she said, was "pushing against a very closed door."
That assessment aligns with signs of growing skepticism inside the White House. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing officials, that Trump doubted Iran would meet his demands and had told aides he saw a renewed bombing campaign as probable. If accurate, that would suggest the administration is preparing for the possibility that the current standoff will be resolved not through diplomacy but through another round of military action.
The June memorandum had been designed as a ceasefire mechanism and as a partial route toward reopening the strait. Its 14 points included a commitment that Iran would never have a nuclear weapon, and it envisioned the United States, Iran and their allies ending military operations on "all fronts." It also contained provisions for ending a US naval blockade and lifting other sanctions. Yet the agreement collapsed after both sides resumed strikes, underscoring the depth of mistrust and the fragility of any arrangement reached under battlefield pressure.
Since then, the confrontation has widened. Iran responded to US and Israeli air strikes that began in late February by attacking Israel, US bases in the Gulf, and Arab Gulf allies of Washington. It also moved to block the Strait of Hormuz, turning a regional war into a global economic threat. Tehran has attacked vessels it says attempted to cross the strait without authorization, while the United States has struck Iranian sites in the waterway, targeted Iranian tankers off the country's coast, and maintained a blockade of Iranian ports. The cumulative effect has been severe disruption to Iran's economy and a dangerous militarization of one of the busiest maritime arteries in the world.
For Trump, the decision to reject Iran's offer comes with both strategic and political risks. The economic fallout from the strait's disruption has increased pressure on the administration to find a way to end the conflict, particularly with Congressional elections approaching in November. Higher energy prices and market volatility carry domestic political costs, especially if voters begin to feel the effects through fuel prices, inflation, or broader economic uncertainty.
At the same time, accepting Tehran's terms would have exposed Trump to criticism that he was rewarding coercion after Iran used military force and maritime disruption to gain leverage. His remarks suggest he is unwilling to grant Iran diplomatic or sanctions relief in exchange for reopening a waterway Washington argues should never have been closed in the first place.
The immediate result is a hardening impasse. Iran says the path to reopening the strait already exists in the June memorandum. Trump says that path is unacceptable. Between those positions lies a waterway still operating far below normal capacity, a global energy market on edge, and a conflict that appears no closer to resolution.
For now, the Strait of Hormuz remains not only a military flashpoint but a test of whether either side still sees value in negotiated restraint. Trump's rejection suggests that, at least in Washington, the balance is shifting away from compromise and toward coercion — a turn that could leave the region, and the global economy, bracing for a more dangerous next phase.