Trump rejects the Iranian offer on Hormuz: “We took out a record amount of oil yesterday”

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected Iran’s offer of a ceasefire and a full opening of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief and the unfreezing of frozen Iranian funds, as The Times reports. The American administration insisted that oil transport through the strategic strait has already reached pre-war levels.

“We are taking out extraordinary amounts of oil. Last night we took a record amount of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz — more than we were getting before the war,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. In a comment to Axios, he added that he expects talks to resume this week: “They want a deal, but not the one I want. It is what we probably would have accepted a year ago. They overplayed their hand.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced the stance on Sunday in an interview for Fox News: “The straits are open. On average we now have 15 to 22 million barrels a day. Before the conflict it was around 20,” he said, according to The Times, describing Iran as economically isolated: “They are isolated from the world. They are a pariah state… They are on their knees.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded publicly through social media: “Our conditions are clear and every step towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on their fulfilment. Only a negotiated solution can get us out of this deadlock.” According to international media reports, Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said that Araghchi presented the official American response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a government meeting, while Reuters, citing an anonymous official, writes that the main point of U.S. objection is the “sequencing” of the steps for opening the strait.

Iran kept the strait closed to ships linked to the U.S. and Israel since the start of the war at the beginning of this year, demanding the fulfilment of the seven conditions of the Islamabad Memorandum — among them the end of the American naval blockade, the unfreezing of funds and the end of sanctions. Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf reiterated on Sunday that Iran will “fight and negotiate” at the same time, but that Hormuz will not reopen until the seven conditions are met.