A boat sails past a tanker anchored on the Strait of Hormuz off the coast Qeshm island, Iran, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Asghar Besharati, File)
The Trump administration on April 28 appeared cold to Iran’s new offer to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz without nuclear agreement, as Tehran insisted that Washington was no longer in a position to "dictate" policy to others.
Axios reported that Iran put forward a new proposal to reopen Hormuz and bring the war to an end, while postponing discussions on its nuclear program to a later phase.
Citing sources, several media outlets reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is “unhappy” with Iran’s latest proposal, as it fails to address concerns over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The Washington administration aims for the complete elimination of Iran’s nuclear capabilities and wants this issue to be addressed as a priority over all other topics, the sources said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also rejected the reported Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under strict conditions, saying it is unacceptable to the United States and the broader international community.
“What they mean by opening the straits is, yes, the straits are open, as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission, or we’ll blow you up, and you pay us,” he told Fox News.
“That’s not opening the straits,” the top U.S. diplomat said. “Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use them.”
Iran insists that even if an agreement is reached with the U.S. and the war ends, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will not return to its previous state, emphasizing that Tehran will maintain tighter control over the waterway. The country is also continuing legal preparations to require passing vessels to obtain approval from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and pay transit fee.
Rubio stressed that the strait is an international waterway and cannot be subject to Iranian control or permission, warning against any attempt to normalize such a system.
On Iran’s demand to postpone nuclear talks, the U.S. diplomat said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon.”
“That fundamental issue still has to be confronted,” he said. “That still remains the core issue here.”
Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, 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.
