A deal Tehran wanted
President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal on Saturday that Tehran said would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the United States met conditions attached to it. Trump told reporters outside the White House that the offer was not good enough, saying Iran was trying to make a deal because it was losing badly under the American naval blockade.
"They want to make a deal and I think that's fine," Trump said before leaving for a college football game. "I'd like to make a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable."
Iranian officials had described the plan as a short truce that would end the standoff at sea. Tehran argued the arrangement could restore normal passage through the waterway within days if Washington agreed to its terms.
Pressure at sea
The strait is the narrow channel between the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and a large share of the world's seaborne oil passes through it. The US blockade has cut Iranian oil exports and pushed energy prices higher, with crude trading near $100 a barrel for weeks.
Trump said the blockade was working because Iranian revenue had fallen sharply. He described the US military as having control of the waterway, and repeated that the pressure would continue until Tehran changed course.
Talks and missiles
Iran's president left New York after the United Nations General Assembly gathering, Iranian media reported. The annual meetings included indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran, but produced no breakthrough on the strait or on the wider war.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted another missile it blamed on Iran-backed Houthi forces in neighbouring Yemen, a reminder that the wider conflict is still active while talks stay stalled.
For now, traffic through Hormuz remains restricted, insurers keep charging war-risk premiums, and both sides appear to be waiting for the other to move first.