Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in return for the U.S. lifting its blockade and ending the war, while proposing that talks on its nuclear program be postponed to a later phase, two regional officials said Monday.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan and would leave unresolved the disagreements that the U.S. and Israel cited to go to war on Feb. 28.
With a fragile cease-fire in place, the U.S. and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passes in peacetime.
The U.S blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store the oil.
The strait’s closure, meanwhile, has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.
