Overview
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Donald Trump expressed displeasure with a recent Iranian proposal aimed at ending the two-month war. The Iranian plan, presented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi during shuttle diplomacy, would defer discussion of Iran's nuclear program until after hostilities cease and after disputes over commercial shipping in the Gulf are resolved. The U.S. position, however, remains that nuclear matters must be addressed from the start, and that difference has diminished hopes for an immediate resolution.
Diplomatic maneuvers and reactions
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told reporters that the U.S. "will not negotiate through the press" and reiterated that the administration has "been clear about our red lines." The comments came as the Trump administration continues its campaign against Iran that began in February alongside Israel. A U.S. official who was briefed on the president's Monday meeting with advisers said Trump was unhappy with Iran's approach because it would push the nuclear question to later stages of talks.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has been engaged in active diplomacy. He traveled to Islamabad, where he visited twice over a weekend, and also made stops in Oman and Russia. In Moscow he met President Vladimir Putin and received expressions of support from a longstanding ally, according to accounts of his travels. Senior Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the package Araqchi carried to Islamabad as proposing staged negotiations that start by addressing an immediate halt to the conflict.
Components of Iran's proposal
According to senior Iranian officials, the proposal outlines a sequence of steps. The first would be an end to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and guarantees that the United States could not reinitiate it. The next stage would tackle the U.S. Navy's blockade of Iranian maritime trade and the status of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran seeks to reopen under its control. Only after those matters would negotiators address other disputes, including the longstanding disagreement over Iran's nuclear program. Iran would still seek some form of U.S. recognition of its right to enrich uranium as part of eventual talks.
Iran has maintained publicly that its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes. The 2015 agreement that sharply limited Iran's nuclear activities included the United States among other participants, but that deal unraveled after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from it during his first term in office.
Market and maritime consequences
With the negotiating positions still distant, oil prices climbed again during early Asia trading on Tuesday. Market analyst Fawad Razaqzada of City Index and FOREX.com said in a note that for oil traders the critical factor is not rhetoric but the physical movement of crude through the Strait of Hormuz - and that movement remains constrained.
Ship-tracking data indicate that at least six tankers loaded with Iranian oil have been forced back to Iran recently by the U.S. blockade, underscoring how the conflict has affected maritime traffic. Iran's foreign ministry condemned U.S. seizures of Iran-linked tankers as "outright legalization of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas" in a social media post.
Before the war, between 125 and 140 vessels typically transited the strait each day. Kpler ship-tracking data and satellite analysis from SynMax show that only seven ships have crossed in and out of the strait in the past day, and none of those vessels were carrying oil destined for the global market.
Domestic and political pressures
The conflict and the administration's conduct have placed domestic pressure on President Trump as his approval ratings have slipped. Observers note the shifting rationales the president has provided to the American public for the military campaign. Araqchi said to reporters in Russia that Trump had requested negotiations because, in the president's view, the United States had not achieved its objectives.
Current diplomatic outlook
Efforts to revive peace talks suffered another setback when Trump cancelled a planned visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad last weekend. That visit had been seen as part of an attempt to advance discussions in which Araqchi has participated. With Iran insisting on staging talks that postpone nuclear issues and the U.S. demanding that those issues be addressed immediately, negotiators remain at an impasse.
As of now, the sequence and scope of any future negotiations are unclear. Iran's staged approach prioritizes an immediate ceasefire and maritime guarantees, while the United States insists nuclear questions must be settled from the outset. Until those differences narrow, both diplomatic progress and the restoration of normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz appear uncertain.