Iran is prepared to reopen Hormuz on three conditions, but Trump is unlikely to agree.

Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and end the war is apparently unpopular with US President Donald Trump. Iran made the US an offer over the weekend to resolve the Middle East conflict and relieve Washington’s embargo of Iran and its ports, with the caveat that talks about Tehran’s nuclear program would take place later in the diplomatic process.

According to a report, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the idea during his weekend visits to negotiators in Oman and Pakistan with the intention of ending the conflict’s impasse and restarting negotiations.

However, US officials told that President Trump and his national security team are sceptical of Iran’s offer. It is not clear why Trump is not satisfied with the proposal, but the Iranian proposal would push negotiations on the country’s nuclear programme to a later date. Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, and one of the reasons why he went to war was to deny Tehran the ability to develop nuclear weapons.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also appeared to rule out any deal that excludes Iran’s nuclear programme. “We can’t let them get away with it,” Rubio said. “We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

“The United States will not negotiate through the press – we have been clear about our red lines, and the president will only make a deal that’s good for the American people and the world,” Olivia Wales, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Tehran’s proposal said Iran would reopen Hormuz if–

• The US would lift its blockade on the country and its ports
• If it ends the war in the Middle East
• If the discussions on Tehran’s nuclear programme are pushed to a later phase of the diplomatic process.

Iran’s new proposal allegedly sparked a heated discussion within the Trump administration about whether country is better equipped to withstand the economic pain brought on by the closure of Hormuz and whether the US or Iran has more clout.

According to US sources, attempts to reach a peace accord are hampered because Iran’s leadership has not given its negotiators permission to compromise on the nuclear pact. Even Trump has voiced his dissatisfaction with Tehran’s refusal to engage in talks with his government.

“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. 

“The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”

A quarter of the world’s traded oil and gas goes across the strait, where the US and Iran are embroiled in a standoff despite a shaky ceasefire. The goal of the US blockade is to stop Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of vital income and possibly forcing Tehran to halt production because it has nowhere to keep the oil.