By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday released new terms of a possible agreement between the United States and Iran, saying the regime must immediately open the Strait of Hormuz without any tolls, and that he will make a “final decision” as he was to meet with administration officials later in the day.
Aside from demanding that Iran not obtain a nuclear weapon, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that the strait must be opened “in both directions” and that Tehran must “complete the immediate removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left.”
Trump signaled in the social media post that he would be meeting with other officials in the White House Situation Room to make the “final determination” on the agreement.
He also said that the blockade of Iranian ports, initiated last month, “will now be lifted,” although it was unclear whether the move would be made if the other conditions laid out in his post were agreed upon by Iran.
“Ships caught in the strait due to our amazing and unprecedented naval blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’ Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from me, your favorite president,” Trump wrote.
The blockade, announced in mid-April, enabled the U.S. military to redirect 115 ships to and from Iran, according to a Friday update from U.S. Central Command.
During the war, Iran restricted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that had been a conduit for around a fifth of the world’s traded oil, sending oil prices surging worldwide. Gas prices across the United States have averaged more than $4 per gallon for the past month, according to data from an automotive group.
The president also said in the post that any enriched uranium that could potentially be used to create a nuclear weapon “will be unearthed by the United States” in coordination with the Iranian regime and the United Nations’ atomic agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency. That material, which Trump has described as “nuclear dust,” will then be destroyed under the agreement, he added.
Trump has long said that Tehran cannot be able to obtain a nuclear weapon, saying it was a primary reason for the U.S. and Israeli military strikes targeting Iran’s military and top leadership starting on Feb. 28. A ceasefire agreement was announced by Trump in April, halting weeks of fighting, which was tentatively extended for another 60 days on Thursday.
U.S., European and Israeli officials have long said they believe Iran is trying to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels, while Tehran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Over the past weekend, Iran’s president again said the country isn’t seeking to produce a nuclear weapon.
Trump also appeared to make reference to reports that Iranian officials have demanded that the United States unfreeze billions of dollars in funds
“No money will be exchanged, until further notice. Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to. I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” Trump wrote.
Iranian officials have not publicly commented on Trump’s Truth Social post through state-run media or through official social media channels.
About two hours before Trump’s announcement, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a member of the Iranian negotiating team in communication with the Trump administration, wrote on X that “no action will be taken before the other side acts.”
“We gain concessions not through dialogue, but through missiles; in negotiations, we merely make them understand this,” he wrote in the post, according to a translation from Persian. “The winner of any agreement is the one who, from the day after it, is better prepared for war.”
