(AP) – U.S. President Donald Trump has posted an image of the Strait of Hormuz labeled “Trump Strait” shortly after Iran proposed a deal to open the waterway within a week if the U.S. meets certain conditions.
Meanwhile, Iranian media outlets said President Masoud Pezeshkian has left New York after the United Nations gathering of world leaders that included Iran’s indirect talks with the United States.
Trump posts a map calling key waterway ‘Trump Strait’
Trump posted an image early Saturday morning on his Truth Social platform of the Strait of Hormuz labeled “Trump Strait,” in the first public indication of his thinking after Iran proposed the new deal and suggested it might help Trump ahead of the midterm elections.
The White House on Friday said only that U.S. officials were having positive and constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war. Earlier in the week, Iran held hours of indirect talks with the U.S.
Behind closed doors, Iran describes a new proposal
In a private gathering Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting, Iran’s top diplomat described Tehran’s new proposal to the U.S. The conditions for Washington largely echo the ones agreed to in the June deal that fell apart.
At stake are the biggest sources of frustration for both sides.
Opening the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran asserted control of after being attacked by the U.S. and Israel, would ease global markets and relieve some pressure on the U.S. military, which has been guiding commercial ships through the waterway at risk of Iranian attack.
Lifting the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, as well as waiving sanctions on oil sales, would allow Tehran to ship out more of its crude and help its battered economy as its currency hits record lows and inflation soars.
Iran makes another push before heading home
In a sign of Tehran’s apparent sense of urgency, Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar, the mediator in the indirect talks, early Friday before much of New York rolled out of bed.
“The choice now rests with the United States,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists Friday evening. But the White House would say only that U.S. officials were having positive and constructive conversations with mediators.
Tehran has spent long weeks in discussions with Oman, on the other side of the strait, on how to manage shipping traffic. Its new rush for a deal with Washington, analysts said, reflects its eye on the midterms. Trump might decide an agreement has political benefits. But his rejection risks a return to fighting that would drive oil prices higher just as he needs happy voters.
“Washington may believe that time is on its side: Maintain pressure through November, avoid another major military escalation before the midterms, and reassess afterward. Tehran may reach precisely the opposite conclusion,” Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said on X on Saturday.
Trump has said he’s in no rush for a deal as the U.S. strains Iran’s economy with sanctions. The White House had yet to expand on his “Trump Strait” social media post overnight.
Iranian outlets say the country’s president has left New York
Semiofficial media outlets in Iran reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian has departed New York for Tehran after the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders.
Pezeshkian’s speech to the gathering pushed back against Trump’s latest threat to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic, but he ended by saying Tehran remains open to diplomacy.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists Friday night that under Tehran’s proposal, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.
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