10.08.2026 09:10
US President Donald Trump announced that negotiations with Iran are quietly ongoing. Trump stated that Iran's economic situation is very bad, that it cannot pay soldiers' salaries, and that the US naval blockade is deepening this crisis. Saying they are in semi-negotiations with Iran, Trump said they are closely monitoring the process.
US President Donald Trump signaled a shift to a strategy focusing on economic pressure and a naval blockade rather than launching a new wave of attacks in the ongoing military and political crisis with Iran. Speaking to Axios, Trump likened the process with Tehran to a "chess game," while the Iranian side presented harsh conditions to the US for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
TRUMP, SPEAKING TO AXIOS: WE ARE IN A HALF-COMPLETED NEGOTIATION PROCESS
Donald Trump, in a brief phone interview with the US-based news site Axios, made striking assessments regarding the tensions with Iran. The report emphasized that Trump is inclined to activate economic pressure mechanisms rather than launching a new wave of military attacks.
The US President stated that they are conducting contacts with Iran without over-amplifying them and argued that the Tehran administration is going through a very difficult economic period. In his interview, Trump used the following statements:
"We are in a half-completed negotiation process with them. We are just observing their high inflation and their state of being out of money. Iran no longer even has the resources to pay its soldiers."
Trump, who claimed that the naval blockade they are enforcing further deepens the economic crisis inside Tehran, expressed that the price of a barrel of crude oil hovering slightly above 75 dollars mitigates the negative effects of the war on US consumers. Likening the course of the process to a game, Trump stated, "Everything will work out. Everything always works out, it's just like a chess game."
IRAN AND OMAN AT THE TABLE FOR HORMUZ
While these developments unfold on the US front, another pillar of diplomatic traffic is being conducted through Oman. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced that negotiations with Oman regarding the restoration of safe maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz have reached the final stage. The two countries are expected to issue a joint statement on the matter soon.
HEAVY CONDITIONS FROM TEHRAN TO THE US FOR HORMUZ
As diplomatic contacts continue, Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, emphasized that the Washington administration needs to "correct its behavior" for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened to passages.
Zolqadr listed the fundamental conditions put forward by Tehran for the US to change its strategy and open the Strait as follows:
- The US must permanently stop military operations against Iran and its allies, and end threats.
- The US naval and air forces conducting the naval blockade must completely withdraw from the region.
- Compensation for damages incurred in the recent conflicts, the lifting of sanctions, and the release of frozen assets.