‘Just watching…’: Trump says US ‘low-keying it’ with Iran as Tehran demands concessions to reopen Hormuz
US-Iran war: The US and Iran are currently not engaged in direct talks but Tehran is in conversation with Iran. Iran said the final pact with Oman was nearing to define new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Aug 10, 2026,
- Updated Aug 10, 2026 7:33 AM IST
US-Iran war: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration was "low keying it" with Iran as it observed economic pressure building on the country after months of US military strikes, sanctions and a blockade.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said, "We are low keying it. We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money."
The US and Iran are currently not engaged in direct talks but Tehran is in conversation with Iran. Iran said the final pact with Oman was nearing to define new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, but repeated that the US must meet several conditions before the strategic waterway is reopened. These conditions include compensation, an end to sanctions and military threats, and other steps Tehran has outlined in recent days. Tehran refused to talk directly with the US and accused it of breaching an interim deal signed in June.
MUST READ | No attacks on allies, compensation: Iran lays down six demands to reopen Hormuz
Iran and Oman were close to a deal that could help restore safe passage through the strait, a major route for oil and gas shipping before Iran blocked Hormuz in response to US and Israeli attacks on Tehran that began in late February. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that an agreement with Oman on the strait was in its "final stages", but reiterated that Tehran would not reopen the channel unless the US met certain demands.
The deal with Oman would set out the new shipping lanes to be used once the US fulfills those conditions, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
Araqchi said reopening the strait would depend in part on the US paying compensation for damage caused in widespread attacks on Iran. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, secretary of Iran's top national security body, also listed other conditions, including an end to further US threats against Iran, a halt to aggression towards Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies, the removal of a US naval blockade in the Gulf, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
The United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran more than five months ago. Trump has said the attacks were aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons and reducing its ability to threaten the region. Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in June, but the US reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, a move Tehran said violated the truce, which had by then already broken down.
"Once the deal is announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, the United States will lift the blockade of Iranian ports," a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official said US actions would be tied to Iran's implementation of its commitments.
US-Iran war: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that his administration was "low keying it" with Iran as it observed economic pressure building on the country after months of US military strikes, sanctions and a blockade.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said, "We are low keying it. We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money."
The US and Iran are currently not engaged in direct talks but Tehran is in conversation with Iran. Iran said the final pact with Oman was nearing to define new shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, but repeated that the US must meet several conditions before the strategic waterway is reopened. These conditions include compensation, an end to sanctions and military threats, and other steps Tehran has outlined in recent days. Tehran refused to talk directly with the US and accused it of breaching an interim deal signed in June.
MUST READ | No attacks on allies, compensation: Iran lays down six demands to reopen Hormuz
Iran and Oman were close to a deal that could help restore safe passage through the strait, a major route for oil and gas shipping before Iran blocked Hormuz in response to US and Israeli attacks on Tehran that began in late February. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that an agreement with Oman on the strait was in its "final stages", but reiterated that Tehran would not reopen the channel unless the US met certain demands.
The deal with Oman would set out the new shipping lanes to be used once the US fulfills those conditions, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
Araqchi said reopening the strait would depend in part on the US paying compensation for damage caused in widespread attacks on Iran. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, secretary of Iran's top national security body, also listed other conditions, including an end to further US threats against Iran, a halt to aggression towards Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies, the removal of a US naval blockade in the Gulf, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
The United States and Israel launched air strikes on Iran more than five months ago. Trump has said the attacks were aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons and reducing its ability to threaten the region. Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in June, but the US reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, a move Tehran said violated the truce, which had by then already broken down.
"Once the deal is announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, the United States will lift the blockade of Iranian ports," a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official said US actions would be tied to Iran's implementation of its commitments.