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U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will pause its latest effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz, while he said a deal to end the Iran war could be finalized during the pause. Speaking Tuesday evening, Trump downplayed the conflict with Iran, calling it a “skirmish” and saying the U.S. has “total control,” while asserting that Iran is quietly negotiating and “wants to make a deal.” He said the pause was designed to give negotiations time to progress, but that the American blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
Trump’s announcement came just as the Strait has become a focal point of the broader war and ceasefire messaging. The nearly month-old ceasefire, which the Trump administration has framed as still holding, has coexisted with attacks that the United States and its allies describe as continuing below the threshold of major operations. U.S. officials and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also portrayed the Strait effort as a protective operation to assist sailors stranded by the war, rather than an escalation.
Ahead of and alongside Trump’s announcement, Rubio told the White House press briefing that for peace to be achieved, Iran would need to agree to U.S. demands on its nuclear program and also agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio also said the U.S. push to reopen the strait to maritime traffic was defensive in nature, aimed at helping “thousands of civilian sailors stranded there by the war.” He added that the stranded crews were “sitting ducks,” “isolated,” “starving” and “vulnerable,” and said “at least 10 sailors have already died as a result.”
The Strait effort Trump described as starting Monday had included moves by the U.S. to create a guarded route and interdict vessels Iran said were threatening commercial ships. On Monday, the U.S. said it had opened a lane and sunk six small Iranian boats that had threatened commercial ships, and that only two merchant ships had been able to pass through the new U.S.-guarded route so far. Multiple shipping firms and former military officers have said reopening the narrow waterway—described as about 21 miles wide—would be dangerous even with escorts, and one shipping line said transits through the strait were not possible for its ships “for the moment.”
While Washington sought to advance the reopening lane, Iran disputed the details of the U.S. actions and its broader posture. The dispute extended to whether the U.S. had sunk vessels and how any incidents affected civilians. An Iranian military commander said two small civilian cargo boats were hit on Monday, killing five civilians, according to Iran’s state TV, and Iran’s position also included a characterization that the U.S. renewed effort violates the ceasefire.
As the U.S. weighed its pause, Iran’s diplomacy also moved in parallel with its military posture. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday morning, Xinhua reported, without providing additional details. The meeting was described as the first time Araghchi has traveled to China since the war began, with China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran giving it a role in influencing Iran’s position.
U.S. and Iranian officials continued to trade messaging about what the pause would mean within the ceasefire framework. At a news conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine said Iran’s renewed attacks had not reached the threshold of what Caine called “major combat operations,” and Caine said Tuesday was a “quieter” day in the strait. At the White House, Rubio also characterized clashes tied to American efforts to reopen the straight as “defensive in nature,” adding, “There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first, OK? We’re not attacking them.”
Iran’s leadership signaled that it had not fully responded to the U.S. attempt to reopen the waterway. Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, posted on X that the continuation of the status quo was “intolerable for America,” while saying, “while we have not even begun yet,” his statement did not mention negotiations with the U.S. that are now conveyed through messages via Pakistan. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on progress in the negotiations Trump referenced in his Tuesday post.
The Strait fighting and signaling also landed heavily in the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf. The UAE said it was attacked by Iranian drones and missiles for a second day Tuesday, even as U.S. military leaders insisted the ceasefire held. Iran’s actions were also described in reports of attacks that targeted or threatened shipping and regional infrastructure, and the British military reported cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE on Monday and a Tuesday report of a cargo vessel in the strait struck by an “unknown projectile,” without further details.
In shipping circles, the operational uncertainty carried through even as the U.S. described a guarded route. Maersk said one U.S.-assisted vehicle carrier exited the strait safely, but Hapag-Lloyd said its risk assessment “remains unchanged” and that transits through the strait “are for the moment not possible for our ships.” The U.S.-approved route was described as going through Oman’s territorial waters to the south, while Iran has attacked ships trying to transit without going through its own route in the northern part of the strait, where vessels are vetted by the Revolutionary Guard and sometimes required to make a payment.
Rubio and Trump both framed the situation as a diplomatic opening that depends on Iran meeting U.S. terms. Rubio’s message emphasized that peace would require Iran’s agreement not just to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but also to U.S. demands on Iran’s nuclear program, while Trump said the U.S. pause would allow time for talks to end the war. For now, though, the nearly month-old ceasefire appears to remain fragile in practice, with attacks continuing and the shipping routes at the center of the Strait effort still constricted.