President Donald Trump has privately signaled to senior aides that he is willing to wind down the Iran war without securing a nuclear agreement, according to reporting cited by U.S. officials. The reported exit plan hinges less on Tehran’s nuclear posture and more on whether Iran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping, a strategic waterway through which a large share of global energy flows.
The Wall Street Journal said Trump had been weighing the option for weeks while the administration prepared for a potential “victory” scenario. Under the approach described to officials, the president would shift focus away from reaching a formal nuclear deal if Iran’s compliance on maritime access meets the central requirement. The proposal reflects an administration effort to find a path out of a conflict that has proved difficult to terminate on straightforward political terms, as Iranian demands have expanded beyond the Strait itself.
In the framework described in the reporting, Iran’s full restoration of free passage through Hormuz would be treated as the key trigger. A message from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman, Hossein Mohebi, was cited as linking reopening to U.S. acceptance of Iranian terms. “Whenever America accepts Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will certainly reopen,” he said, underscoring that Tehran views maritime access as conditional rather than automatic.
While Trump’s calculation, as reported, would allow the U.S. to end active hostilities without a nuclear settlement, the Iranian side is presenting a broader set of preconditions. According to the summary of the same Wall Street Journal account, Iran insists that Hormuz cannot reopen until Washington “corrects its behavior.” Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Saturday that the waterway would remain closed until the U.S. satisfies its stated requirements, relayed in a written message.
The dispute over timing and conditions is occurring even as diplomatic engagement continues through Oman. Oman, which has been negotiating shipping arrangements with Tehran, described the current talks as taking place in a “positive and constructive” atmosphere. Oman’s Foreign Ministry also condemned repeated attacks on vessels transiting the strait, urging all parties to avoid actions that could damage progress in the negotiations.
Iran, for its part, argues that Hormuz will not reopen until Washington meets Tehran’s conditions. That position persists as Iran and Oman reportedly move closer to an agreement on a temporary shipping route, suggesting that both sides are testing incremental steps even while insisting on larger political and security concessions. The emerging framework indicates that even if commercial passage resumes in some form, Tehran may still view full reopening as tied to U.S. policy changes.
Beyond the Strait, the reported bargaining demands from Tehran complicate the definition of an “exit.” The account attributed to U.S. officials in related coverage says Iran’s new demands—reported to include steps that would go beyond normal ceasefire mechanics—threaten to narrow the president’s options. As described, Iranian requirements include a permanent end to the war, removal of the U.S. naval blockade, withdrawal of forces, an end to sanctions, release of frozen Iranian assets, and payment of war reparations.
Those demands also reportedly extend to ending U.S. threats and military action against Iran’s regional allies. In the U.S. view, the Strait reopening would be sufficient to declare victory and potentially extend the existing ceasefire for longer, even if the nuclear question remains unresolved. Officials cited in the reporting argued that if Iran’s nuclear capabilities remain contained and commercial traffic through Hormuz returns, Trump would be more likely to prolong the ceasefire indefinitely.
Officials also said the administration was preparing to lift its blockade of Iranian ports if Tehran fully reopens the strait. That sequence—maritime access first, then easing certain economic and military pressures—appears central to the reported logic of the approach, which attempts to convert a security benchmark into a political endpoint.
At the same time, the political trajectory described in the Wall Street Journal account suggests the administration has been laying groundwork for an abrupt shift: Trump had been preparing to declare victory if Hormuz reopened, even floating to senior aides the possibility of walking away without a nuclear deal. The underlying premise is that restarting shipping would signal de-escalation significant enough for the administration to claim the conflict’s objectives had been met.
However, Iran’s stated conditions—and its insistence on U.S. policy correction as a prerequisite—means the Strait remains a bargaining lever rather than a mere logistics issue. The gap between the U.S. framing (Hormuz as the decisive condition) and Tehran’s expanded demands (full war termination plus sanctions relief, assets, reparations, and force changes) leaves the negotiations vulnerable to delays and mutual suspicion.
As Oman continues to manage talks described as constructive, the immediate question remains whether the U.S. will accept Iran’s terms in a way that Tehran considers adequate for full reopening. The reported U.S. readiness to end the conflict without a nuclear agreement would represent a major shift from the typical linkage between Iran’s nuclear program and broader security negotiations, but it depends on a maritime outcome that Iran says it will only deliver after Washington meets its conditions.
For now, the Strait of Hormuz stands at the center of an unfolding diplomatic contest: Trump’s reported willingness to exit without a nuclear deal contrasts with Iran’s insistence that Washington must address a wider slate of demands before ships can pass freely again. The next phase of negotiations, including whether a temporary shipping arrangement evolves into broader access, will likely determine whether the reported “victory” path becomes reality or remains only an option discussed behind closed doors.
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