The White House said it was examining Iran’s latest proposal to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran insisted on Tuesday that Washington was no longer in a position to “dictate” policy to others.
Iran has blockaded the waterway — a vital conduit for oil and gas shipments — since the start of the US-Israeli offensive two months ago, sending shockwaves through the global economy.
While a ceasefire has halted the fighting between the longtime foes, talks to permanently end the war and reopen the strait have proven inconclusive.
US President Donald Trump met with top security advisors on Monday to discuss the Iranian proposal after Tehran passed “written messages” to Washington via Pakistan, spelling out its red lines, including on nuclear issues and Hormuz, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.
The proposal was “being discussed,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a White House briefing.
The plan would reportedly see Tehran ease its chokehold on the strait and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade on Iranian ports while broader negotiations continue, including over the thorny question of Iran’s nuclear program.
“The United States is no longer in a position to dictate its policy to independent nations,” Iranian defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik said, according to state TV, adding Washington would eventually “accept that it must abandon its illegal and irrational demands.”
Asked about Iran’s proposal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News “it’s better than what we thought they were going to submit,” but questioned whether it was genuine.
“They’re very good negotiators,” he said, “and we have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi blamed Washington’s “excessive demands” for the failure of peace talks during a visit to Russia, where President Vladimir Putin promised him Moscow’s support in ending the war.
Mediator Pakistan previously hosted a first, unsuccessful round of US-Iran talks, but hopes for a second over the weekend ultimately came to nothing.
Trump has said that if Iran wants talks, “they can call us.”
Tehran would need guarantees that Washington and Israel would not attack again if it was to offer security assurances for the Gulf, Iran’s envoy to the UN said.
– ‘Up in the air’ –
In Russia, Araghchi said the war had shown “Iran’s true power” and stability, but back home in Tehran, the mood was more sober.
“Everything in the country is up in the air right now. I have not worked for a long time,” small business owner Farshad told Paris-based AFP journalists.
“The country is in complete economic collapse.”
Tehran resident Shervin, a photographer, said he too was feeling the pinch.
“It is the first time that I have reached a point where I was late on my rent,” he said.
Iran’s blockade of Hormuz has cut off flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sent prices soaring.
Trump faces domestic pressure to find an off-ramp as prices rise, with midterm elections due in November and polls showing the war is unpopular among Americans.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, said Monday that a proposed law for managing the strait would make the Islamic republic’s armed forces the overseeing authority, with levies to be paid in Iranian rial.
But the head of the UN’s maritime agency, Arsenio Dominguez, said there was “no legal basis” for imposing transit fees.
Rubio also rejected the idea.
“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 told Fox’s “America’s Newsroom.”
– ‘Another year of fighting’ –
Violence has continued on the war’s Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, with Beirut’s health ministry reporting Israel killed four people in the south on Monday.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel, which responded with strikes and a ground invasion.
The group’s leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected planned direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel as a “grave sin,” and vowed Hezbollah would “not back down.”
Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military said it had begun hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Israel maintains that under the terms of the truce, it can act against imminent threats.
Israeli army chief of staff Eyal Zamir said 2026 was “likely to be another year of fighting” for Israel on all fronts.
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