Iran offered Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, hours before President Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if the two countries fail to reach a deal.
Tehran’s offer targets one of the war’s most consequential pressure points for the United States, where disrupted energy flows through Hormuz have helped push American fuel costs sharply higher. The proposal also lands just weeks before the November midterm elections as polling shows broad public dissatisfaction with the war and Trump faces mounting political pressure over the cost of living.
“I have a big decision to make,” Trump said, including whether he would “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly,” according to the United Nations.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before — maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it… pic.twitter.com/lgRIgzHY67
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 22, 2026
Tehran told Washington it could reopen the critical waterway within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, Reuters reported, citing a senior Iranian official. Iran delivered the proposal through mediators on Sept. 16 and said its delegation in New York has authority to revive diplomacy, according to the outlet.
“Iran is a perfect example of military hubris,” defense policy analyst and retired Marine Dan Grazier told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This whole situation is a really good example of why it’s important for everyone involved in this process to remember that war is a human endeavor … prosecuted to serve human purposes.”
“Iran is clearly seeking relief from mounting military and economic pressure, but that does not mean the diplomatic opening is insincere,” Dania Thafer, the executive director of the Gulf International Forum, told the DCNF. “In fact, pressure is precisely what often produces diplomacy. The more important question is whether Tehran is prepared to translate its offer into reciprocal, verifiable concessions.”
Trump said at the U.N. that the alternative would be an agreement allowing Iran to rebuild and become a “far greater country,” and predicted Washington and Tehran would eventually strike a deal after the November elections.
“He’s doing a kind of a carrot and stick routine here … he’s wielding a very big stick while also dangling a fat juicy carrot,” Grazier told the DCNF. “Saying, on one hand, that he can annihilate the country very quickly. That’s the stick. And then saying that he can like rebuild Iran. That’s the carrot.”
The Pentagon referred to U.S. Central Command, which declined to comment, citing operational security. The White House also did not respond to a request for comment.
Update from CENTCOM Commander: pic.twitter.com/PTX6n9fn56
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 19, 2026
The president also used the speech to defend the U.S. campaign against Tehran and reiterate his demand that Iran never acquire a nuclear weapon.
“I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, according to the United Nations. Trump also credited Operation Midnight Hammer with destroying Iran’s nuclear program and Operation Epic Fury with eliminating the Iranian navy.
Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in March 2026 that Operation Midnight Hammer had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and that Tehran had made no effort to rebuild its enrichment capability since the strikes, according to Office of the Director of National Intelligence archives.
Domestic Pressure
The Iran War has done a number on Americans’ wallets. AAA has directly tied the recent run-up in fuel prices to elevated crude prices and continued volatility in the Strait. The group reported Sept. 17 that gasoline was already more than a dollar per gallon higher than a year earlier as crude traded near $100 per barrel amid instability around Hormuz.
A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday found Trump’s overall approval at 32%, while just 17% approved of his handling of the cost of living and 34% supported the U.S. strikes on Iran, Reuters reported. The survey included 1,277 U.S. adults and carried a margin of error of roughly three percentage points.
That domestic pressure is arriving as the United States moves toward November’s midterm elections, when every House seat and roughly one-third of the Senate will be contested, according to USA.gov. Trump himself tied the diplomatic timeline to the election during his U.N. appearance Tuesday, saying he expected a potential agreement with Tehran after the midterms.
“The strongest indication that diplomacy may be moving is that Washington is also sending contradictory but increasingly significant signals,” Thafer told the DCNF. “President Donald Trump called at the United Nations for Iran’s economic isolation, but hours later said the two sides had been talking that day and that he believed a settlement would eventually be reached. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has likewise said Washington remains open to talks.”
Iran, meanwhile, characterized the gathering of world leaders in New York as an opportunity for diplomacy.
“The UN General Assembly is a golden opportunity for the US to return to diplomacy,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters. Tehran wants Washington to formally state that it seeks a diplomatic resolution before the two governments agree to a timeline for negotiations, according to the outlet.
“For Washington, the central question is not simply whether to ease pressure, but what kind of arrangement would convert that pressure into durable strategic gains,” Thafer told the DCNF. “Maintaining the blockade preserves American leverage and continues imposing substantial costs on Tehran. But it also carries wider costs on America’s allies in the region. The confrontation has helped turn the world’s most important energy chokepoint into an active theater of war, imposing higher shipping, insurance, energy, and security costs on U.S. partners as well as Iran.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian traveled to New York for the General Assembly, although Tehran said he would not meet Trump directly, Reuters reported, citing the senior Iranian official. Iran has instead offered to negotiate the details of an agreement through mediators.
Despite Trump’s rhetoric at the General Assembly, he indicated after the speech that diplomatic contacts had not stopped.
“They want to talk to us,” Trump said after meeting British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, adding that Iranian officials had been communicating with the United States Tuesday and that “the relationship is developing,” Reuters reported. Trump provided no details about those contacts.
The Strait of Hormuz remains central to any potential settlement. Around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade and 19% of global LNG trade passed through the waterway in 2025 before the war started, according to the International Energy Agency.
Iran’s offer would therefore tie one of Tehran’s largest pieces of economic and strategic leverage directly to negotiations with Washington. The Iranian official said reopening the Strait could occur within a week if Washington reduced military pressure and lifted the blockade, according to Reuters.
“I’ve been arguing for more than six months that I don’t see a successful military outcome in this scenario, at all,” Grazier told the DCNF. “So I think it’d be best for both sides from an overall strategic perspective to negotiate an acceptable end to this because I just don’t see it. I just don’t see a way out of this using military means.”
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