Trump Rejects Iran Peace Proposal, Seeks Exact Terms Before Decision
Trump first rejected Iran’s offer, then said he had only seen the “concept of the deal,” jolting markets already strained by Hormuz and oil above $100.
Donald Trump put Iran’s latest peace proposal in limbo, first saying he was “not satisfied” with it and then, a day later, saying he had only been briefed on the “concept of the deal” and was waiting for the exact wording before deciding. The rapid shift sharpened questions in Washington, Tehran and energy markets about whether Trump was using ambiguity as leverage or exposing a policy process that was still unsettled.
The proposal, sent through Pakistani mediators, was designed to reopen shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. blockade of Iran, while pushing nuclear talks to a later stage. That sequencing matters because Hormuz has been treated as the pressure point in the standoff, with the blockade described as choking off roughly 20% of global oil and gas supplies. Oil prices have already surged above $100 a barrel during the confrontation, with Brent reported above $108 in some accounts and above $110 in others.
The timing added to the sense of instability. The conflict has been framed as a fragile ceasefire after war began in late February following U.S. and Israeli strikes, and the ceasefire has held only tenuously. Trump said renewed strikes on Iran remained a “possibility” if Tehran “misbehaves,” a warning that kept military risk on the table even as the White House weighed a diplomatic opening.
Trump’s mixed signals also carried direct consequences for the bargaining process. Reports indicated he had canceled plans to send Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for further negotiations, suggesting that the administration was not yet ready to convert the proposal into a formal track. That left Iran with an incentive to test how far Washington would go before insisting on more exact terms, while Gulf states and critics questioned whether any unilateral arrangement over Hormuz could be trusted.
The back-and-forth underscored a broader problem for U.S. credibility. When a president publicly rejects an offer, then reopens it within 24 hours, markets have to price not just the terms of the proposal but the durability of American commitments. For oil traders, the result is another layer of premium on an already volatile conflict. For Tehran, the message is mixed: the door may still be open, but only if the language is precise enough to survive Trump’s next reversal.
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