Hours after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian offer on Saturday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, his envoys continued talks with Iranian officials in New York, with Qatar acting as mediator.
The developments reflect a dual-track diplomatic strategy by Washington: publicly pressuring Tehran while keeping channels for negotiations open through intermediaries.
The stakes are rising on both fronts: Brent crude is trading around $105 a barrel, energy prices have become a political liability for the administration ahead of the November midterms, and senators are pushing war powers resolutions as the Congressional Budget Office puts the cost of the first four months of operations against Iran at about $40 billion.
Iran’s offer would reopen the strait within seven days in exchange for lifting U.S. oil sanctions, releasing about $12 billion in frozen assets and halting U.S. and Israeli military operations. Beyond Qatar, Oman and Pakistan have also served as channels between the two sides.
Speaking to reporters over the weekend, Trump described the Iranian offer as evidence of Tehran’s weakness, saying Iran wanted to reopen the Strait of Hormuz quickly because it was “dying, and no money is coming in.”
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said in an interview with CNN that the Iranian roadmap was a “cynical attempt” to extract major concessions in exchange for a return to previous arrangements.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump suggested that he could “wipe out Iran” if attacks on U.S. and regional interests continued.
But Trump told Axios in a phone interview that he expected more negotiations this week.
“The Iranians want a deal,” he said. “But it’s not the deal I want to make. It’s the deal we probably would have accepted a year ago. They overplayed their hand.”
Economic Pressure
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in roughly three hours of indirect talks in New York with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, mediated by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The agency, citing three diplomatic officials familiar with the discussions, said Qatari mediators sought to narrow the differences between the two sides and that the talks made “slight progress.”
Higher energy prices have become a domestic political issue for the Trump administration ahead of the November midterm elections. Brent crude rose more than $4 a barrel in early trading following Trump’s rejection of the Iranian offer.
In Congress, Senate Democrats, with support from some Republicans, have introduced resolutions concerning war powers. Lawmakers cited estimates from the Congressional Budget Office that military operations against Iran had cost about $40 billion during the first four months of the war.
The Iranian Offer
In addition, the easing of sanctions, the release of frozen assets, and a halt to the naval blockade and other military operations in the region, Lebanon and Yemen, Iran proposed freezing its stockpile of enriched uranium at current levels, with technical details to be discussed at a later stage.
The U.S. naval blockade, which CENTCOM established in the weeks following the outbreak of hostilities in February, restricts vessel access to Iranian ports across the Persian Gulf. Under the blockade, U.S. naval forces have redirected commercial ships attempting to enter Iranian waters, boarded vessels suspected of carrying sanctioned cargo, and in some cases disabled ships that did not comply. The blockade operates alongside a broader sanctions enforcement regime targeting Iranian oil exports and which the administration says is an instrument of economic pressure rather than an act of war.
Iran disputes that characterization and says ending the blockade is a primary condition for any diplomatic engagement.
Mediators are exploring modifications that would involve reopening the strait in stages in exchange for limited financial steps, including allowing Iranian oil sales under certain exemptions or releasing frozen funds held in accounts designated for the purchase of civilian goods.
Obstacles to a Limited Agreement
The two sides have previously tried to separate maritime security from the other issues. In June 2026, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in Pakistan that included a temporary 60-day agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin broader nuclear talks.
But the agreement collapsed within weeks after Iranian forces resumed targeting commercial vessels amid disputes over its implementation, prompting the United States to strike coastal artillery positions. The current dispute goes beyond the terms of navigation through Hormuz. Iran is linking the reopening of the strait to sanctions, military operations and the nuclear issue, while Washington is pursuing limited steps that do not require it to accept the Iranian package in full.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
