Iran would reopen Strait of Hormuz, postpone nuclear talks if U.S. lifts blockade and war ends: Reports

It is unclear if President Donald Trump, who has vowed not to lift the blockade until a deal with Iran is “100% complete,” will entertain the reported offer to end the 2-month-old war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Fox News interview later Monday morning appeared to pour cold water on any Iranian proposal to clear the strategically vital strait.

“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,'” Rubio said, when asked about Trump’s claim Saturday that Iran had sent a “much better” offer.

“That’s not opening the straits. Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize, 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,” Rubio said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she will brief reporters at 1 p.m. ET.

The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted the central goal of the conflict is keeping Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“Everything will be peanuts compared to that, if they ever were given a nuclear weapon,” Trump said Saturday night when he spoke to reporters at the White House after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

But efforts at a diplomatic solution appeared to hit a sudden roadblock over the weekend.

Trump on Saturday canceled plans for his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with their Iranian counterparts in Pakistan. “Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” he wrote in a Truth Social post, while asserting the U.S. still has “all the cards.”

Trump announced the decision after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had departed Islamabad after only speaking with Pakistani officials, Reuters reported.

After sending the social media post, Trump reportedly told reporters that Iran had followed up with a “much better” offer, without saying what it contained.

“They gave us a paper that should have been better. And interestingly, immediately, when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” Trump said before boarding Air Force One on Saturday, Bloomberg reported.

The cancellation ended immediate prospects for a second round of peace talks with Iran. Two weeks earlier, Kushner, Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance traveled to Islamabad and spent 21 hours negotiating with Iran, but left the country without a deal.

Vance was not included in the latest travel plans.

A U.S.-Iran ceasefire remains in effect after Trump unilaterally extended it last week. But the two sides throughout the truce have continued to jockey for advantage over each other, with the Strait of Hormuz emerging as the main battleground.

The strait, a vital shipping route that in normal times ferries 20% of the world’s oil, remains Iran’s main source of leverage in the ongoing conflict. Tehran effectively closed the passage through force, with just a small fraction of prewar ship traffic making it through. The de facto closure has sent oil prices spiraling, leading to higher prices for gasoline and other products in the U.S. and around the world.

Trump has responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the region. At least 38 ships have been stopped or turned around so far, U.S. Central Command said Sunday night.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.