WASHINGTON — Iran has made another offer to try to wind down its war with the US by reopening the Strait of Hormuz but has yet to address stalled talks over ending Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, according to a report.
A US official and sources told Axios that Tehran has sought an extended cease-fire through mediators to reopen the strait and end the American naval blockade of it — but added that negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program should be postponed for the time being.
Iranian officials claimed earlier this month that it was reopening the strait, which is a critical chokepoint for global trade including oil exports, but few tankers have made it either in or out since the April 17 announcement.
The key sticking point for the Trump administration has been wiping out Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the U.S. will not negotiate through the press,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a statement in response to the report.
“As the President has said, the United States holds the cards and will only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Roughly one-quarter of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and energy prices have surged globally since the start of the the US’s Operation Epic Fury against Iran on Feb. 28.
Just 21 ships exited the strait between April 24 and 26, according to the ship-tracking site Kpler. Two others entered during that time: a “ballast shadow oil/chemical tanker” Sunday, and “a sanctioned crude oil tanker” Friday.
One of President Trump’s main objectives in the war has been seizing Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium to prevent it from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.
He said in a Sunday interview that Tehran was just days away from buckling under the economic pressure of having their oil supply cut off, as well as seeing its infrastructure explode because of mechanical issues caused by the upheaval.
“When you have, you know, lines of vast amounts of oil pouring through your system, if for any reason that line is closed because you can’t continue to put it into containers or ships, which has happened to them — they have no ships because of the blockade — what happens is that line explodes from within, both mechanically and in the earth,” Trump said on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.”
“It’s something that happens where it just explodes,” he added. “And they say they only have about three days left before that happens. And when it explodes, you can never, regardless, you can never rebuild it the way it was.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi flew to Pakistan on Friday for planned talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — but Trump told his diplomats not to go Saturday.
“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,’” the president posted on his Truth Social.
“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Araghchi headed on to a meeting with officials in Muscat in Oman — and then flew to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Monday.
The Iranian foreign minister reportedly mentioned to several mediating parties — including officials in Islamabad — that the remaining leadership in Tehran has not reached consensus about Trump’s demands to end the war, including the suspension of its uranium enrichment and its removal.
American bombers had struck three critical nuclear sites in Iran during the June 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer.
But not all of Iran’s enriched uranium was destroyed at the time, according to Israeli officials, and the Trump administration expressed concerns at the start of the recent conflict about Tehran ramping up its nuclear enrichment again.