Iran offered a seven-day path to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt regional fighting. Donald Trump rejected it — and argued that Tehran now needs the waterway reopened more than Washington does.
“They made a proposal, but I rejected it,” Trump told reporters on Saturday.
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| U.S. forces conduct a mine-clearance mission in the Strait of Hormuz in April 2026, amid heightened military tensions around the strategic waterway. Photo: U.S. Navy. Licence: Public Domain. |
Iran had presented the plan at the U.N. General Assembly in New York and sent it to Washington through Qatari mediators. According to Reuters, the proposal would start a seven-day countdown toward reopening the strait and pausing fighting across the region. If Washington agreed, the two sides could then move into broader negotiations.
Seven days to reopen Hormuz
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the mechanics of the plan were already in place.
“If there is seriousness on the U.S. side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared,” he said at the United Nations.
The proposal also opened the door to wider talks, potentially including Iran’s nuclear program. Reuters reported, however, that a senior Iranian official said Tehran would not give up uranium enrichment or agree to ship its highly enriched uranium abroad.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Tehran’s offer included reopening Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks in return for the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump rejected that framework.
“They want to make a deal where they open the Strait of Hormuz immediately because they’re losing so badly,” he said.
He later tied Iran’s push for an agreement directly to money.
“What they want to do is immediately open the Hormuz Strait. You know why? Because they’re dying. You know why they’re dying? Because they have no money coming in.”
Trump says the U.S. controls the strait
Trump said Washington had turned Iran’s attempt to restrict Hormuz against Tehran itself.
“We have total control of the Hormuz Strait,” he said. “Massive amounts of oil are coming out of the Hormuz Strait.”
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| Editorial illustration by EastoraNews |
He said 29 ships had exited the waterway the previous night and described the U.S. operation around Iran as a “wall of steel.”
The available shipping data paints a more constrained picture of traffic.
Five days earlier, Reuters reported that just 17 commodity vessels had crossed the strait over an entire weekend, compared with about 125 large commercial ships a day before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28. Some tankers are also moving with their transponders switched off, meaning visible tracking does not capture every passage.
Before the war, Hormuz carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
One waterway, two calculations
Trump said Iran had originally tried to close Hormuz to put pressure on the rest of the world.
“They said, ‘Let’s close it and cause a problem for the world,’” he said.
His response, he said, was to prevent Iran from benefiting economically while allowing other countries to continue moving through the strait.
“We’re going to close it on you. But everybody else is able to use it.”
The U.S. has imposed an economic blockade on Iran in an effort to force Tehran to lift restrictions on Hormuz, Reuters reported. At the same time, Iran is offering to reopen the waterway as part of a broader settlement.
Hours before Trump publicly rejected the proposal, a U.S. official had described indirect discussions with Iran through mediators as “positive and constructive.”
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed U.S. officials, also reported that Trump had told aides he expected renewed bombing of Iran after the November midterm elections.
For now, the two sides are still using the same narrow stretch of water for opposite purposes: Iran is offering Hormuz as part of a negotiated exchange, while Trump says the pressure created around the strait is precisely why Tehran wants a deal.
The seven-day proposal remains rejected. The strait remains restricted. And the bargaining continues around the waterway both sides say they can use as leverage.