US President Donald Trump met with his top security advisors Monday to discuss an Iranian proposal that would reportedly re-open the Strait of Hormuz as broader negotiations over the war continue, the White House said.
When asked about the reported plan, which would see both Iran and the United States lift their blockades ahead of further talks on the thorny issue of Tehran's nuclear programme, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told a White House briefing that "the proposal was being discussed."
"Only because it's been reported, I will confirm the president has met with his national security team this morning," she said, refusing to say if Trump would accept the proposal.
Leavitt told reporters that "the president's red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear, not just to the American public, but also to them as well."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile said Iran's stance on the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquid natural gas normally transits, did not meet US demands.
"If what they mean by opening the straits is, 'yes, the straits are open as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission or we'll blow you up and you pay us,' that's not opening the straits," Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.
"They cannot normalise, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalise, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway and how much you have to pay them to use it," he said.
Hopes for new negotiations
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's visit to Islamabad, which hosted the first and only round of unsuccessful talks between Washington and Tehran, had fanned hopes for fresh negotiations over the weekend until Trump scrapped a planned trip by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Trump told Fox News after calling off his emissaries' trip that, if Iran wanted talks, "they can come to us, or they can call us."
Meanwhile, Araghchi blamed Washington for the failure of talks after landing in Russia as part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour.
The Iranian foreign minister made the remarks in St Petersburg, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, having also planned a trip to Oman in between visits to the main mediator Pakistan over the past few days.
"The US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands," Araghchi said on Monday.
In a sign that backchannel efforts were ongoing, the state-run Fars news agency said Iran had passed "written messages" to the US via Pakistan spelling out red lines, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz.
The messages were not part of formal negotiations, according to the agency.
Global issue
The ceasefire in the Iran war has so far held but its economic shockwaves have continued to reverberate globally.
Tehran has effectively closed the crucial Strait of Hormuz, cutting off flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sending prices soaring, raising fears of food insecurity in developing countries.
In response, the US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in the waterway and beyond.
Trump faces domestic pressure as fuel prices rise following Iran's closure of Hormuz, with mid-term elections due in November. Polls show the war is unpopular among Americans.
The strait was on the agenda during Araghchi's trip to Oman, which lies on the other side of the waterway from Iran.
"The safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is an important global issue. Naturally, as the two coastal countries of this strait, we must speak with each other so that our common interests are secured," Araghchi said from St Petersburg.
Russian and Iranian state media confirmed Araghchi would speak with Putin, citing officials from their respective governments.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), however, have said they have no intention of lifting their market-shaking blockade, saying control of the waterway "and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America...is the definitive strategy" of Tehran.
Oil prices were creeping up again on Monday, although lingering hopes that a deal can eventually be reached have tempered the gains.
