Trump threatens more sanctions as Iran sets new Hormuz conditions

Donald Trump said the United States was "only semi-negotiating" with Iran, signaling he would lean harder on sanctions and economic pressure as talks over the Strait of Hormuz stalled. He told Axios he was watching Iran’s "huge inflation" and saying the country had "no money," while strikes remained paused.

The dispute centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and a large share of its liquefied natural gas pass. Any sustained disruption there would reverberate far beyond the Gulf, pushing up energy costs and complicating shipping lanes for oil producers, importers and freight operators.

Iran has now layered new conditions onto any reopening. Tehran demanded inbound control of the strait and outbound oversight as part of the talks, and Iranian officials said the waterway would not fully reopen until Washington met Tehran’s terms. Those demands went beyond simply restoring traffic and included ending sanctions and providing compensation for war damage.

The Iranian position also sharpened in the last several days. Iran said a deal with Oman was in its final stages, but insisted the United States had to act before Hormuz could open. That undercut the White House’s earlier optimism that a commercial shipping arrangement was close and suggested Tehran was using the chokepoint as leverage for broader concessions.

Trump’s comments marked a familiar mix of diplomacy and coercion, but with a different balance than in previous flare-ups. In earlier June reporting, Washington and Tehran had signaled that a peace deal might be near, yet no final agreement followed, and the main sticking points, Hormuz, sanctions and war-related concessions, remained unresolved. Now Trump is pointing to Iran’s economic strain as he threatens more pressure, while Iran is demanding a price for any de-escalation.