President Donald Trump said the United States is not seeking to extend its memorandum of understanding with Iran and declared that no peace talks are scheduled, as Brent crude rose above $90 per barrel and a deadly tanker strike added to uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States is not seeking an extension of its memorandum of understanding with Iran, signaling that Washington and Tehran remain far apart as oil prices climb and tensions continue around the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude oil moved above $90 per barrel amid uncertainty over shipping through the strategic waterway and the absence of a broader agreement between Washington and Iran.
Trump said there are currently “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
His statement appeared to distinguish formal negotiations from other contacts between the two governments.
On Monday, Trump told Fox News that his administration maintains a back channel with senior officials in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser, also said Monday that communications between Washington and different parts of the Iranian government were unusually extensive.
“Conversations between the U.S. government and in different areas of the Iranian government and in all areas is probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been,” Kushner told Fox News.
“We are having very positive and active conversations,” Kushner added.
Those comments indicate that contacts continue even as Trump says no formal negotiations to end the war are underway or scheduled.
Trump Posts Map Calling Hormuz ‘New U.S. Territory’
Trump escalated his rhetoric surrounding the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday when he shared an image depicting the waterway as “new U.S. territory.”
The president posted the map on Truth Social without additional explanation.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi quickly responded.
“Soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man,” Gharibabadi wrote on X.
Trump had previously floated the idea of asserting U.S. control over the strait during an Aug. 14 speech at a police academy on Long Island, New York.
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the central disputes in the war, with Washington demanding unrestricted international navigation while Tehran continues asserting authority over shipping traffic.
Iran Says IRGC Will Maintain Control Until U.S. Meets Demands
Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Tuesday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will continue controlling shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets a series of Iranian conditions.
“Until the United States fulfills its commitments under the agreement, including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations on all fronts, and implementing the other conditions to which it committed, the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen,” Qalibaf said, according to The Associated Press.
Iran initially outlined those conditions on Aug. 8.
The United States, meanwhile, continues enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports while insisting that international maritime traffic must be allowed to move freely through the strait.
The competing demands leave the two sides divided not only over the broader war but over control and administration of one of the world’s most important oil-shipping corridors.
Trump’s statement that the United States does not want to extend the existing memorandum adds further uncertainty over whether the current framework can produce another round of formal negotiations.
Tanker Strike Kills Crew Member Near Oman
The diplomatic impasse was accompanied Tuesday by another attack on commercial shipping.
A vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an “unknown projectile,” according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center.
One crew member was killed.
The projectile also damaged the vessel’s engine room, UKMTO said.
The ship was struck off the coast of Oman, and the surviving crew members were being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard.
No environmental damage had been reported.
The incident added to concerns over the safety of commercial shipping through Hormuz as the United States and Iran continue making conflicting claims about the waterway’s status and control.
The heightened uncertainty has also affected global energy markets, with Brent crude moving above $90 per barrel.
U.S. Criticizes Israeli Strike in Syria
Separately, tensions elsewhere in the Middle East increased after Israeli forces struck Abu al-Duhur Airbase in Syria.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said Washington was “deeply concerned” about the Israeli strikes, which he described as an unnecessary escalation.
Barrack said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has not “adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces” and has “repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel.”
He said the United States “continues to believe that restraint and engagement offer the more constructive course,” and urged the parties “to prioritize logical discourse over further military incidents.”
A senior Israeli official told Fox News that Washington had been informed before the attack.
“Highly sensitive intelligence was shared with the United States in advance” of the strike, the official said.
The Israeli official suggested that al-Sharaa may not have known about the activity that prompted the attack.
“Al-Sharaa understands that he cannot operate like the previous Syrian regime, which maintained proxy forces. It’s possible that he didn’t understand what was going on, or didn’t know,” the official said.
Al-Sharaa previously led Al Qaeda’s affiliate organization in Syria before becoming the country’s leader in January 2025 after rebel forces under his command ousted Bashar al-Assad.
President Donald Trump has backed al-Sharaa’s government and lifted broad U.S. economic sanctions on Syria in late June.
The Syrian dispute adds another flashpoint to an already volatile regional environment dominated by the Iran war, the U.S. naval blockade and continuing confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz.
For now, Trump says formal peace talks are not taking place, Washington is not seeking an extension of the Iran memorandum and the blockade remains in effect. Tehran, meanwhile, says the strait will not fully reopen until its demands are met, leaving the two governments locked in competing positions as oil prices and maritime risks continue to rise.
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