President Donald Trump met with his national security team Friday for more than two hours on a potential deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran but reached no final decision. The White House Situation Room session broke up without a resolution, the New York Times reported, leaving the status of a truce in the Strait of Hormuz unresolved. Iran's foreign ministry countered Trump's portrayal of the terms, saying Tehran "said goodbye to the language of 'must' 47 years ago."
The meeting lasted over two hours. There was no vote. According to the New York Times, the president left the Situation Room without authorizing any new agreement, despite earlier suggesting a decision was imminent.
Trump had telegraphed the high-stakes session in a lengthy social media post. He laid out a vision where Iran would remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz, end its blockade of the waterway without imposing tolls, and coordinate the destruction of its enriched uranium stockpile. The US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports in return. "No money will be exchanged, until further notice," he wrote.
The math did not add up for Tehran. Iran's Fars news agency, citing what it called informed sources, immediately rebutted nearly every point. It described Trump's remarks as a "mixture of truth and lies." The agency reported that Tehran is demanding "the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets" before it moves to any next phase.
Without that payment, the sources said, negotiations stop. Fars also flatly denied that any clause exists in the agreement text about a toll-free Hormuz, calling the claim about destroying Iran's nuclear material "fundamentally baseless."
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei reinforced the defiance on state television. "Regarding the understanding... exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet," he said. He added that there are currently "no negotiations" taking place on Iran's nuclear programme. This directly contradicts the White House narrative of a pending comprehensive deal.
Follow the leverage, not the rhetoric. The strait is where the leverage sits. Here is what they are not telling you.
The waterway remains a live battlefield. Iranian state TV reported Friday that 24 ships transited the strait in the past day, moving in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry. But it warned that "ships from hostile countries face a severe response" from Iran's military.
The US struck the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas as recently as this week. Iran fired back. Both sides accuse the other of violating a brittle truce that technically exists around the strait but is observed by neither.
The economic toll extends beyond the shipping lanes. A conflict that has engulfed the Middle East is shaking the global economy. Oil prices have been whipped around by every intercepted vessel and missile salvo, and the prospect of a breakthrough deal sent markets into a speculative holding pattern Friday.
The stalemate leaves tankers, insurers, and energy importers in Asia and Europe staring at the same risk premium they have absorbed for weeks. That timeline concerns commanders on both sides. The original ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was supposed to take effect on April 17.
It never held. On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces had crossed the Litani River, roughly 30 kilometres north of the Israel-Lebanon frontier, and were "hitting Hezbollah head on." Israel kept up its bombardment of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed a series of drone attacks on military targets in northern Israel, including troop concentrations and a barracks.
These attacks occurred while Israeli and Lebanese military delegations were holding security talks in Washington. The irony is stark. Diplomacy in one room, bombing runs in another.
Lebanon was pulled into this war in early March. Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel after the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. That triggered an Israeli ground invasion.
The conflict has since spiralled into a multi-front war that has no clear off-ramp and a growing body count. The $12 billion demand is the real sticking point. Iran's insistence on unfreezing assets before proceeding represents a fundamental asymmetry in how the two sides view the negotiation.
Trump's "no money will be exchanged" clause is a red line designed to avoid the appearance of paying for peace. Iran sees the frozen funds as stolen property that must be returned before it will even discuss the next phase. The Fars report makes explicit what diplomats have suggested privately: the sequencing of financial concessions is non-negotiable for Tehran.
That gap is not a minor drafting issue. Trump's insistence that Iran "must" do certain things — never have nuclear weapons, open the strait — reveals a structural problem in the talks. Baghaei's retort that Iran "said goodbye to the language of 'must' 47 years ago" refers to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
It signals that Tehran's political identity is built in part on resisting exactly this kind of ultimatum. Forcing capitulation dressed as a deal will not work. Offering concessions that look like capitulation will not work either.
Behind the diplomatic language lies a military reality. The US and Israeli navies maintain a blockade of Iranian ports. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz with mines, fast attack craft, and shore-based anti-ship missiles.
Neither side can claim victory without the other's humiliation. That is what makes a negotiated settlement so elusive. The enrichment question adds another layer.
Trump said the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran's enriched uranium. Fars calls this "fundamentally baseless." Baghaei insists no nuclear negotiations are happening at all. Either the White House is floating a trial balloon that Tehran has no intention of catching, or the two sides are reading completely different documents.
Why It Matters: The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of global oil transit. A prolonged blockade or military exchange in these waters does not merely spike prices — it reroutes the entire global energy supply chain. Every day without a deal means higher insurance premiums, longer tanker routes around Africa, and sustained inflationary pressure on economies from Germany to Japan that are already struggling with the cost of living. - Trump's two-hour Situation Room meeting produced no decision on a deal with Iran, contrary to earlier signals a decision was imminent. - Iran's Fars news agency rejected nearly every element of Trump's proposal, demanding $12 billion in frozen assets be released before any next phase. - The Strait of Hormuz remains a live-fire zone, with both sides accusing each other of violating a truce that functionally does not exist. - The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire has collapsed, with Israeli troops crossing the Litani River and Hezbollah launching drone attacks on northern Israel.
What comes next is a test of stamina, not diplomacy. Trump has not said when he will return to the deal question, and no follow-up meeting has been announced. Iran's demand for $12 billion will either be a poison pill that kills the talks or a starting bid for a negotiation the White House has not yet acknowledged publicly.
If shipping traffic drops or another exchange of fire erupts around Bandar Abbas, the window for a deal will close. Watch for movement on frozen assets as the only credible signal that either side is serious about a settlement.
Key Takeaways
— - Trump's two-hour Situation Room meeting produced no decision on a deal with Iran, contrary to earlier signals a decision was imminent.
— - Iran's Fars news agency rejected nearly every element of Trump's proposal, demanding $12 billion in frozen assets be released before any next phase.
— - The Strait of Hormuz remains a live-fire zone, with both sides accusing each other of violating a truce that functionally does not exist.
— - The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire has collapsed, with Israeli troops crossing the Litani River and Hezbollah launching drone attacks on northern Israel.
Source: AFP
