In this handout photo provided by U.S. Central Command, U.S. forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the M/V Touska on April 20, 2026, after firing on the Iranian-flagged ship, which the U.S. accused of attempting to violate the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.
US Navy getty images
Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade of Iranian ports and the war ends, while postponing talks over its nuclear ambitions to a later date. axios and this associated Press Reported on Monday.
It is unclear whether President Donald Trump, who has vowed not to lift the blockade until a deal is reached with Iran, will “100% complete,” will consider the alleged offer to end the two-month-old war.
In a Fox News interview Monday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to pour cold water on any Iranian proposal to clear the strategically important strait.
Asked about Trump’s Saturday claim that Iran had sent a “much better” offer, Rubio said, “What he means by opening the straits is, ‘Yes, the straits are open, as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission, otherwise we’ll blow you up and you’ll pay us.’
Rubio said, “This is not opening the straits. They are international waterways. They cannot be normalized, nor can we tolerate trying to normalize them, to a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use the international waterway and how much you have to pay them to use it.”
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said She will brief reporters at 1 p.m. ET.
The Trump administration has repeatedly stressed that the central goal of the conflict is to prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“If they were ever given a nuclear weapon, everything would pale in comparison,” Trump told reporters at the White House after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.
But efforts for a diplomatic solution appeared to have hit a sudden halt over the weekend.
A boy stands on a giant Iranian flag and raises his fist during the funeral of Iranian Revolutionary Guards naval commander Alireza Tangsiri, who died along with others killed in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, in Enghelab Square in Tehran on April 1, 2026.
– | AFP | getty images
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 travelling, too much work!” he wrote in a satya social postWhile claiming that the US still holds “all the cards”.
Trump announced the decision after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad after speaking to Pakistani officials, Reuters informed.
After sending the social media post, Trump reportedly told reporters that Iran had made a “much better” offer, without specifying what it contained.
“They gave us a paper that was supposed to be better. And the interesting thing is, when I immediately 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 any immediate prospects for a second round of peace talks with Iran. Two weeks earlier, Kushner, Witkoff and Vice President J.D. Vance traveled to Islamabad and spent 21 hours in talks with Iran, but left the country without an agreement.
Vance was not included in the latest travel plans.
The US-Iran ceasefire remains in effect after Trump unilaterally extended it last week. But during the ceasefire the two sides have continued to struggle to gain ground over each other, with the Strait of Hormuz emerging as the main battleground.
The strait, a vital shipping route that in normal times carries 20% of the world’s oil, remains Iran’s main source of leverage in the current conflict. Tehran effectively closed the route by force, with only a small fraction of pre-war ship traffic able to enter it. the actual closing has taken place Oil prices rose sharplyDue to which the prices of gasoline and other products increased in the US 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 diverted so far. US Central Command said Sunday night.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.