Trump directs the cessation of negotiations with Iran and changes the pressure strategy

For weeks, US President Donald Trump has striven to achieve positive developments with Iran, to little avail.

On Tuesday, he appeared to be adopting a new approach, as Trump asked his administration's top envoys to halt their negotiations with Iran, a US official told CNN.

In addition, White House officials recently told political allies to change their strategy, from “attacking Iran as quickly as possible to gradually strangling it,” according to a source familiar with the matter.

Instead of claiming that the negotiations were going well and that a new agreement was imminent — as he has repeatedly asserted since the collapse of the ceasefire signed in June — Trump declared that there were no diplomatic efforts underway at all.

“There are no ongoing or scheduled negotiations or dialogues with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the naval blockade remains in full force, the Strait of Hormuz is open and operating normally, and all water mines have been removed or detonated,” he wrote on social media.

In fact, shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains very limited, and ships transiting this vital waterway are constantly exposed to Iranian missile fire.

However, frustrated by the faltering attempts to reopen the Strait, and facing mounting questions about the losses incurred by the US military in this unpopular war, Trump is signaling his willingness to end the conflict.

US officials said on Tuesday that Trump's directives to his negotiating team - which includes Vice President J.D. Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner - not to enter into negotiations with Tehran came after some "positive negotiations" with it.

But Trump is still dissatisfied with Tehran's unwillingness to respond to his demands, and wants to wait until the country's leaders show a new willingness to reach the agreement he seeks before resuming negotiations, according to the officials.

A day before Trump's social media post, Kushner offered a more optimistic assessment of the negotiations during a visit to the Middle East.

He said in an interview with Fox News that negotiations between the United States and Iran are “perhaps more serious” than ever before, adding that the American team is talking with various figures within the regime.

“They are engaging very actively, which is very positive,” he said, adding: “We are having very positive and active negotiations.”

Iranian officials have repeatedly denied direct negotiations with the United States.

Trump had previously expressed anger at these denials, saying that Iran was “playing its games” and that officials were keen to reach an agreement in more secret negotiations.

Behind the scenes, Trump's dissatisfaction with the features of the agreement that Iran is trying to conclude with the Sultanate of Oman regarding managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has increased, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The US President launched a scathing attack on the Sultanate of Oman this week, threatening to bomb it despite it being a strategic partner of the United States for decades.

He told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday: “I do not think they behaved appropriately, but we will deal with them quite easily, as we do with others.”

Both Iran and the Sultanate of Oman have coasts along the Strait of Hormuz, and the agreement, as described by regional officials, stipulates that each country is given control over navigation traffic to and from the Arabian Gulf.

There are concerns within the White House that the plan, which has not yet been finally approved, could strengthen Iran's control over the waterway, and some officials believe that the Sultanate of Oman was more favoring Iran than the United States in the negotiations, rather than being a neutral partner.

Among the proposals that Trump and senior US officials oppose: imposing fees on ships wishing to cross the strait.

Trump insisted on not allowing any fees or other payments, but some versions of the agreement circulating include fees related to environmental protection or security.

This is not what Trump imagines, as he is seeking an agreement that will return the waterway to its pre-war status, when it witnessed full maritime traffic through this international corridor, and his administration has repeatedly stated that allowing any country to control the strait would set a dangerous precedent.

Reopening the Strait has become the most prominent challenge in the war, although Trump claimed this week that his main goal remains preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The United States is expected to soon impose tough new sanctions on Iran, possibly as early as this week, according to statements by US officials.

Military officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said that US forces in the region were prepared to impose the US blockade on Iranian ports "indefinitely."

Trump and his team believe that economic pressure on Iran will eventually push the regime to accept his terms for ending the war. However, Iranian officials believe, on the other hand, that Trump himself is facing political pressure that is pushing him to withdraw, which has led to this impasse.

Military pressure has also increased on Trump to negotiate an exit from the war. The historically unprecedented long periods of deployment of US military equipment in the region, including the aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln", raised questions and criticism due to the burdens it left on the ships and sailors on board.

Moreover, Trump acknowledged that the most advanced munitions stocks are not at the level he hopes for 6 months after the war.

However, Trump has so far resisted growing calls from Republicans to find a way out of the war, insisting that he feels no time pressure.

In another post on social media on Tuesday, Trump published a map of the strait with the phrase “American territory” written underneath it. This announcement did not suggest any intention for an American military withdrawal in the near future.