Trump rejects Iranian offer to reopen Strait of Hormuz within a week

What happened

US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping within seven days. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Saturday, Trump said "I'm rejecting their deal," arguing the US already had "total control" of the strait and that "massive amounts of oil" were already passing through it.

The offer came from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who told reporters at the United Nations in New York on Friday that the strait could reopen within seven days "if the necessary conditions are met." He said those conditions were already set out in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the US and Iran in June, and that "the choice now rests with the United States."

The Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas normally flows, has been effectively closed since war broke out in February. Iran has attacked vessels it says tried to cross without authorisation, while the US has struck Iranian sites in the strait and Iranian tankers, and maintained a blockade of Iranian ports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS News that "everything will return to the way it was before" if the US agrees to proceed under the earlier MOU signed in Pakistan. A former US National Security Council official told the BBC there was no appetite in Washington to revisit that agreement, saying it was seen there as a bad deal.

Key facts

• Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, he told reporters on Saturday
• Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the offer on Friday at the UN, tied to a US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in June
• The strait, used for about a fifth of world oil and gas supply, has been effectively closed since war began in February
• Shipping data cited by Reuters, from analytics firm Kpler, shows a recent 10-day average of about 18 vessel transits a day, dropping as low as nine on some days
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS News a return to the earlier MOU, signed in Pakistan, would restore the previous situation

What you need to know

• The closure has caused wild fluctuations in global energy prices, according to the report
• About a fifth of the world's oil and gas supply normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz

What happens next

Araghchi says the choice on reopening the strait "rests with the United States," while the Wall Street Journal has cited unnamed officials saying Trump is sceptical Iran will meet his demands and sees a renewed bombing campaign as probable. Trump has told the UN General Assembly he believes a deal with Iran is more likely after November's elections.

Still to be confirmed

• Whether the US and Iran will resume talks based on the June memorandum of understanding
• Whether a renewed US bombing campaign against Iran will go ahead, as reportedly flagged to Trump's staff
• Whether Saudi Arabia has formally requested US military support over Houthi attacks, as reported in US media
• The extent to which current shipping volumes through the strait reflect a genuine reopening or ongoing disruption