Iran Awaits US Answer on Hormuz Plan as Report Says Trump Turned It Down
Iran says Washington has yet to answer a seven-day proposal that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and pause fighting across the region. The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump rejected the offer, citing unnamed US officials, but Reuters said it was unable to independently confirm that account.
Tehran says it is still waiting for Washington to respond to a proposal tying the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to a series of US steps and a broader halt in regional hostilities.
That public position sits alongside a separate, unconfirmed report from The Wall Street Journal. Citing unidentified US officials, the newspaper said President Donald Trump had rejected the Iranian offer because he doubted Tehran would satisfy American demands. Reuters subsequently reported that it could not independently verify the claimed rejection.
Iran sets out a seven-day sequence
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi unveiled the proposal on September 25 while attending the UN General Assembly in New York. He said the plan had been passed to the United States through Qatar.
The Iranian framework links reopening the waterway to several demands. They include ending the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, releasing frozen Iranian assets, easing or waiving restrictions on Iranian oil exports, and stopping hostilities on regional fronts, including Lebanon. Tehran also wants negotiations with Washington to resume.
The “seven-day” description does not mean a countdown is already running. Araqchi said the timetable would begin only if the United States accepted the proposal. Under the sequence he described, American measures would be implemented during the opening four or five days, Hormuz would reopen on the sixth day, and negotiations toward a final settlement would start on day seven.
WSJ report describes Trump rejection
The Wall Street Journal offered a different picture of the US response. Its September 25 report, based on unnamed American officials, said Trump had rejected the proposal and remained unconvinced that Iran would meet US requirements.
The same report said Trump had told aides he expects American bombing of Iran to resume after the November 3 midterm elections.
That point requires an important distinction. The report describes an expectation attributed to Trump, not a confirmed order or final decision to resume military action. The Journal also said the scale of any possible strikes remained uncertain and that Trump's position could change as diplomacy continued.
Reuters confirms talks, not the reported rejection
Reuters separately confirmed key elements surrounding the Iranian initiative. It reported that Tehran had submitted the proposal through Qatari intermediaries and was awaiting Washington's answer. An American official described the indirect discussions to Reuters as “positive and constructive.”
What Reuters could not establish independently was whether Trump had actually rejected the proposal as the Journal reported.
As of the September 26 research cutoff, the White House had not publicly confirmed or denied that account.
Trump's public message has been different
Trump's public remarks add another layer to the story. On September 9, he predicted that the war would end immediately after the US midterm elections and accused Iran of trying to prolong the conflict in order to affect the vote.
Those comments should not be conflated with the later WSJ account. Publicly, Trump spoke about the conflict ending after the election. The newspaper's anonymously sourced report says he privately expects US bombing could resume afterward.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has meanwhile said Trump remains open to reaching an agreement with Iran, while pointing to Tehran's nuclear program and its backing of armed groups as major obstacles.
Hormuz remains critical to global energy flows
The stakes extend well beyond the two governments. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most consequential energy routes.
International Energy Agency figures show that around 20 million barrels a day of crude and petroleum products moved through the strait in 2025, representing roughly one-quarter of global oil traded by sea. About 80% of those flows were destined for Asia. The route also normally handles about one-fifth of worldwide liquefied natural gas trade.
Existing pipeline alternatives cannot replace the strait's entire capacity, leaving energy markets exposed to prolonged disruption.
Lebanon brings an Israeli dimension to the proposal
Iran's terms also reach beyond the US-Iran confrontation. Tehran has linked its plan to an end to fighting on regional fronts, specifically including Lebanon.
That makes the proposal relevant to Israel and to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. A broader arrangement involving Washington and Tehran could affect fighting on that front as well.
No official Israeli government response to this particular Iranian proposal, or to the reported Trump rejection, had been identified by the research cutoff.
No seven-day countdown is underway
For now, Iran's proposed timetable has not started. Tehran says it begins only after US acceptance, and on September 26 Iranian officials were still publicly waiting for an American answer.
The verified and unverified elements therefore remain separate: Iran has publicly described its proposal and timetable. The assertion that Trump has already rejected it, along with the report that he expects US bombing to resume after the midterms, comes from The Wall Street Journal's unnamed US sources and had not been independently confirmed by Reuters.
