Iran just offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and America just said no
5 days ago · 26 September 2026Share
President Donald Trump boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, September 22, 2025, en route to Joint Base Andrews for a trip to New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly. File photo. The White House · Public domain
Iran wanted the Strait of Hormuz reopened. Trump rejected the whole plan.
He said it a few hours ago, walking to Marine One on the White House lawn.
He said Iran wants the strait open right away, because Iran is losing so badly.
So that's the door shut. For now.
This comes right after the US and Iran held quiet talks this week, on the side of the UN General Assembly in New York.
And the offer on the table wasn't new.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Foreign Minister, announced it a day ago. Iran sent a seven-day plan to Washington. It went through Qatar, acting as the go-between.
Here's what Iran offered. The US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports. The US drops sanctions on Iranian oil. And there's a ceasefire covering Lebanon too.
In return, Iran says the strait reopens. Normal shipping resumes. Within seven days.
Abbas Araghchi says quote "the choice now rests with the United States".
That's Iran saying: your move, Washington.
But here's the thing. Trump has seen this exact offer before.
A few months ago, the US and Iran signed almost the same deal. Sixty days to talk it out. It fell apart within weeks. Iran started firing on ships it said were breaking its rules. Trump called that deal dead soon after.
So Trump watched this deal fail once already.
And Washington isn't rushing back to it.
The rest of this story is for members.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data showing the Strait of Hormuz, Qeshm Island, and surrounding geography from space. File photo. Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit , Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center · Public domain
One US official put it plainly: America is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz, and it is not in a rush.
Translation: Washington thinks it can wait Iran out.
And there's a reason for that confidence.
The Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials, that Trump told his own aides something different behind closed doors. He expects a new bombing campaign against Iran once the November midterm elections are done.
So what was private is now public. Same plan, out in the open.
Now, why the strait matters so much. Before this war, it carried around a fifth of all the oil the world uses. Every day it stays shut costs Iran money it badly needs. Every day it stays shut keeps oil markets on edge everywhere else too.
Iran's president has his own answer to all of this.
Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera a few hours ago that Hormuz can be solved through negotiation, not force. He said Iran no longer trusts talking to the US, because past rounds of talks were followed by attacks and sanctions.
That's Iran's president saying: we've been burned by this before, and we won't wait around forever.
On top of that, Trump posted a picture to Truth Social early today. It showed the Strait of Hormuz, with a label claiming it for himself.
Earlier this week, Abbas Araghchi met Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, said it would be wrong to call that meeting a major breakthrough.
So where does that leave things? The war between the US and Iran is now about seven months old. And it's stuck.
Here's what we don't know. Is Trump's post-midterm plan locked in, or could it shift? US officials have told the Wall Street Journal his thinking could change over the coming weeks.
And will Iran try again with another offer, or decide, like Pezeshkian warned, that it's waited long enough?
Right now, the strait stays shut. And so does the door Iran just tried to open.
Nothing here was paid for by an advertiser. Members are the entire business model. Bronze is where it starts, and it opens the last seven days in full.
