Trump Rejects Iran's Seven-Day Plan to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump rejected Iran's seven-day roadmap to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on September 26, 2026.
"I reject their proposal," Trump told reporters outside the White House before leaving for Tennessee by helicopter, according to Al Jazeera.
The rejection answered a formal Iranian offer made a day earlier. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on September 25 that Tehran had sent a detailed seven-day plan to the United States through Qatar, which is acting as mediator, and was waiting for a reply. Under the plan, the Strait could reopen to normal shipping within seven days if certain conditions were met.
The Strait works like a narrow doorway for much of the world's oil tankers. Those conditions link that doorway to economic and military steps. Tehran asked Washington to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, a military effort to stop ships from entering or leaving. It asked for a waiver on sanctions on Iranian oil sales, penalties that restrict trade. It asked for the release of about $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets. It also asked for a ceasefire, an agreement to stop fighting, covering the region including Lebanon and Yemen. The proposal also called for restarting talks toward a deal, according to CBS News.
Araghchi spoke at the United Nations in New York during the General Assembly. Earlier in the week he had met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. That meeting kept a direct line open while public statements grew tougher.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian repeated the message in an interview with Al Jazeera on September 26. He said Tehran no longer trusts talks with the U.S. because past talks were followed by attacks and sanctions. He denied Iran blocked the Strait. He said the U.S. closed routes first and called Iran's closure a natural response when its own routes are cut off. He said the waterway would reopen to commercial ships if talks ended the war. He said negotiations, not force, could resolve the crisis.
Trump's public rejection came with private doubts. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials, that Trump doubted Tehran would meet his demands and told aides he expects a renewed bombing campaign against Iran after the November U.S. midterm elections. After the rejection, Trump may weigh new military strikes, according to The Hill.
This dispute follows months of conflicting claims about who controls the waterway and where diplomacy stands. The White House said on August 28 that the U.S. Navy controls the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier White House statements said Iran had agreed to a ceasefire and reopening of the Strait while the administration negotiated a wider peace agreement, and that Trump's Iran agreement ensures Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon and reopens the Strait. The administration also said Trump sent a large naval force to the region to push Iran to negotiate a deal.
Lower-level contacts continued at the same time. U.S.-Iran talks in Doha focused on the Strait, and an early U.S.-Iran deal called for both sides to let shipping resume through the waterway. A senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait within days if the U.S. eased military pressure and lifted its blockade, according to Reuters. Trump had earlier said the U.S. would start an effort on a Monday morning to free ships stuck in the Strait.
Trump also posted undated messages about the Strait. In those posts he said the Strait is open and will stay open, with or without Iran. He announced the return of a blockade on Iran, said no talks were planned with Tehran, and insisted the naval blockade remains in full force. He called for removal of any mines, warned Iran over reported fees charged to passing tankers, and gave Iran 48 hours to fully open the Strait without threat.
The broader context here is a negotiation built on linkage. Tehran is tying a quick, reversible step at Hormuz to costlier steps in Washington on sanctions relief, asset release, and military posture, plus a regional ceasefire beyond the Gulf. Washington treats open passage as a starting requirement, not a bargaining chip, while keeping pressure through the blockade and the threat of strikes. That is why there were two tracks at once: Qatar passing along formal terms, Witkoff testing them directly, and both presidents speaking to home and foreign audiences.
In my view, the near-term question is order, not goal. Neither side disputes that commercial ships should move again. They disagree on who acts first and what guarantees come with it. Pezeshkian's language about distrust and Trump's talk of action after the midterms both push any concession into a riskier period. If the Qatar channel cannot separate a limited shipping agreement from the larger package on oil, assets, and Lebanon and Yemen, the Strait will stay both the pressure point and the likely trigger for more force.
