Iran reviewing U.S. proposal as Trump pressures Tehran for agreement on deal to end war

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has said it is reviewing the latest American proposals on ending the war, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened the country with a new wave of bombing unless a deal is reached that includes reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

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Hope that the two-month conflict could soon end buoyed international markets on Thursday, despite the U.S. military firing on an Iranian oil tanker attempting to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports Wednesday. The price of Brent crude oil stabilized at around $100 a barrel as investors waited to see whether the strait would reopen, allowing tankers to deliver oil from the Persian Gulf again.

Trump posted on social media that the two-month war could soon end and that oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict could restart. But he said that depends on Iran accepting a reported agreement that he did not detail.

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Trump wrote.

A fragile ceasefir e between the U.S. and Iran has largely held since April 8. But in-person talks between the two countries hosted by Pakistan last month failed to reach an agreement. The war began Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

A shifting narrative of the war

The Trump administration’s messaging throughout the Iran war has been shifting and often contradictory. This week, the president and his aides presented a dizzying narrative over the U.S. strategy to unblock the Strait of Hormuz and wrap up the war that drastically changed over the course of mere hours.

Iran has effectively shut the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of supplies of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products, while the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports.

On Wednesday, a U.S. fighter jet shot out the rudder of an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to breach the American blockade, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

Trump suggests U.S. might force a deal with Tehran

Trump insisted Wednesday that Iranian officials want to end the war.

“We’re dealing with people that want to make a deal very much, and we’ll see whether or not they can make a deal that’s satisfactory to us,” the president said.

He suggested the U.S. could ultimately force a settlement.

“If they don’t agree, the bombing starts,” Trump said on social media, “and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”

The White House believes it is near an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum to end the war, according to reporting by the news outlet Axios. Provisions include a moratorium on Iranian uranium enrichment, lifting of U.S. sanctions, distribution of frozen Iranian funds and opening the strait for ships.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the possible agreement.