A confidential Iranian proposal, described by a senior official speaking on condition of anonymity, would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and prompt the United States to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, while deferring detailed negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program to a subsequent phase, the official said.
According to the official, the plan is designed to create a more conducive environment for an overall settlement. Under the proposal, an end to the current war would be secured by guarantees barring future attacks by Israel and the United States, Iran would reopen the strait to non-Iranian shipping, and Washington would remove its blockade of Iranian maritime traffic. The more complex subject of restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities would be negotiated later in return for the lifting of sanctions, with Iran seeking formal recognition of its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes even if it agrees to suspend enrichment during talks.
The official said this sequencing - moving contentious nuclear questions to the final stage - is intended to facilitate agreement on immediate, practical steps that would reduce tensions and restore global commerce.
President Donald Trump, however, said on Friday he was not satisfied with the latest Iranian proposal for talks. At the White House, when asked to choose between military action and negotiation, he posed the stark option: "Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever? Or do we want to try and make a deal?"
Trump also told congressional leaders that he did not need their permission to extend military action beyond a legal deadline that day because, he said, a ceasefire had "terminated" hostilities. Speaking separately, he added that "on a human basis" he did not prefer the military option, signaling a reluctance to order strikes despite his earlier remarks.
Later in Florida, the president warned he would not bring U.S. confrontation with Iran to an early close only to face the same problem again in a few years. Despite saying he is in no rush, Trump is confronting increasing domestic pressure to break Iran's effective chokehold on the strait, a disruption that has curtailed about 20% of the world's oil and gas flows and contributed to higher gasoline prices for American consumers. His Republican Party also faces the possibility of voter backlash over rising energy costs ahead of midterm congressional elections in November.
Diplomatic activity and military posture have both shifted in recent weeks. The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, yet no agreement appears imminent to end a war that, according to the official account in this proposal, has produced the largest disruption to global energy supplies seen to date, roiled markets and raised concerns about a broader economic slowdown.
Iran has, for more than two months, effectively blocked most shipping through the Gulf other than its own vessels. In response, the United States last month imposed a blockade of ships from Iranian ports. Washington has repeatedly stated it will not conclude the war without a deal that permanently prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon - the primary objective President Trump cited when ordering strikes in February during a period of nuclear negotiations. Iran, for its part, maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful.
The senior Iranian official said the newly detailed timeline - reopening the strait and lifting the blockade ahead of finalizing nuclear limits - had been formalized in a proposal conveyed to the United States through mediators. Reuters and other news organizations had reported in the preceding week that Tehran was proposing to reopen the strait before nuclear issues were resolved; the official confirmed those reports and said the sequence is now explicitly set out in the proposal.
On the domestic front, the president spent Saturday at his Florida properties, including his Mar-a-Lago resort and the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter. He was scheduled later to visit Trump National Doral outside Miami, the venue for the PGA Cadillac Championship. The president's visible leisure activities coincided with intense debate in Washington over the appropriate policy mix - diplomatic, economic and military - to end the confrontation while safeguarding U.S. objectives.
Iran's stated readiness for diplomacy, voiced by its foreign minister, is contingent on a change in the U.S. approach, the official said. The proposal aims to split immediate, tactical steps from the more politically and technically fraught negotiations over nuclear constraints, with the former meant to relieve immediate economic and market pressures and the latter to be pursued once trust-building measures are in place.
For now, both sides remain at an impasse: Tehran offering a phased framework that it describes as a significant shift, and Washington indicating dissatisfaction with the current terms while expressing a preference - at least rhetorically - for a non-military path.