United States President Donald Trump has reportedly ruled out an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, according to unnamed US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal. Trump’s rejection comes just hours after Iran put forward a new roadmap to opening the strait, through which one-fifth of global oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime – and days after the US president threatened to “annihilate” Iran from the floor of the UN General Assembly. Here’s what we know about Trump’s response to the proposal and what could come next in the conflict.
The proposal lays out a roadmap to open the Strait of Hormuz with normal maritime passage within a week. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the proposal calls for the US to take actions it committed to under the failed June 17 Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on an accelerated timeframe. Those actions include releasing $12bn in frozen Iranian assets, lifting Iranian oil sanctions and ending the US’s naval blockade on Iranian ports, Araghchi told reporters at a private media briefing on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
He also said all hostilities, including in Lebanon, where Israel still occupies part of the south of the country, must cease during the seven-day period. Araghchi said once the US conditions are met – which he estimated would take four or five days – the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened and negotiations with the US on a “final deal” would start on day seven. He said the process could begin as soon as the US accepts the plan.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had quickly ruled it out, citing unnamed US officials. They said Trump was sceptical about whether Iran would fulfil US demands. Trump’s most persistent demands have been that Iran never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon and that it restore free passage in Hormuz.
Iran says it will not discuss its nuclear programme until the conditions it has laid down are met, which has led to an impasse between the two sides. Meanwhile, a US official has told Al Jazeera that Washington is in no hurry to respond to Iran’s proposal and that it sees itself as being in a strong position with respect to the Strait of Hormuz. Late on Friday night, Trump posted an image of a map on his Truth Social platform that labelled it “Trump Strait”.
Trump has previously said the US has “total control” over the waterway and threatened to designate it as a US territory. Iran strongly denied that, saying it has complete control of the strait. Yes, but mostly indirectly.
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