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U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered his national security team to prepare a prolonged naval blockade to choke off Iran's oil revenue, the report said, in a sustained push to force nuclear concessions from Tehran.
The decision, reached in recent meetings, including a Monday session in the Situation Room, keeps American warships in position to halt any vessel sailing to or from Iranian ports, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal. Trump, officials noted, judged that option less risky than resuming airstrikes or pulling the U.S. out of the fight entirely.
The blockade, in place since April 13, targets what Washington described as a high-risk bid to force a nuclear capitulation Tehran has long refused. Instead of walking away, the administration opted to keep squeezing Iran's economy, betting that choking port traffic will do more than bombs at this stage.
The move points toward a long stretch with fighting largely paused but no durable settlement in sight, and with the status of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz still unresolved.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Tehran had reached out to ask Washington to lift its naval blockade while the two sides negotiate an end to the two-month war that has upended global energy supplies.
Tehran wants the critical waterway reopened "as soon as possible as they try to figure out their leadership situation," Trump said, adding that Iran had described itself as being in a "State of Collapse."
Iran has floated a temporary arrangement that would restore passage through the strait in exchange for lifting restrictions on its ports while delaying broader nuclear negotiations, U.S. media reported.
Washington reportedly turned down the proposal, viewing it as insufficient and questioning the intent behind it.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran's latest offer "better than what we thought they were going to submit" in an interview with Fox News, but added the White House has "questions about whether the person submitting it had the authority to submit," echoing earlier U.S. claims of division inside Iran's leadership.
Mediators expect a revised proposal to emerge in the coming days, CNN reported.
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