Published Thu, May 7, 2026 · 07:39 AM — Updated Thu, May 7, 2026 · 09:19 AM
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump predicted on Wednesday night (May 6) that the war in Iran will be over quickly, as he seeks a deal to end the stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz and Teheran’s nuclear programme.
“When you look at the kind of things that are happening, we are doing that for one very important reason: We cannot allow them to have a nuclear weapon.” Trump said in a tele-rally for Georgia Republican governor candidate Burt Jones. “So I think most people understand that. They understand that what we are doing is right, and it’ll be over quickly.”
Washington has presented a one-page memorandum of understanding that would gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lift the American blockade on Iranian ports, a person familiar with the measure told Bloomberg.
Detailed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme would come later in the process, the person said, adding that nothing has yet been agreed.
The initial offer capped off a chaotic 48 hours that illustrates the bind Trump faces as he looks to defuse an energy crisis he helped create by attacking Iran alongside Israel in late February. The move came after Trump suspended a short-lived US mission to offer safe passage for commercial ships through the strait, a vital waterway for oil and gas.
Adding to his urgency is a summit scheduled next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which already was postponed in the early days of the conflict due to the Middle East backdrop.
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Polls show Americans’ distaste for the conflict is growing six months from midterm elections where affordability will be a central focus. Gasoline prices breached US$4.50 a gallon for the first time since July 2022, according to the American Automobile Association. The trajectory has challenged predictions from Trump, who has vowed costs at the pump will plummet when the war ends.
Stocks rose and oil retreated Wednesday, with benchmark Brent crude settling at US$101.27 a barrel, as investors weighed developments in negotiations.
‘If they don’t agree, the bombing starts’
Trump on numerous occasions throughout the conflict has indicated that a deal is near, though none has materialised. He acknowledged to the New York Post that it might be “too soon” to think about face-to-face talks to lock up such an agreement.
Iran is expected to send a response via mediator Pakistan in the next two days, the person familiar said. State media, meanwhile, have signalled that parts of the US proposal remain unrealistic to Iran’s leadership.
The US will end its military campaign and lift its blockade of Hormuz “assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption,” Trump posted on social media on Wednesday, without giving details of the proposal. “If they don’t agree, the bombing starts.”
In Israel, the prospective deal caused concern, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government pledging to keep pressure on Iran until it is totally defeated and its nuclear, missile and proxy militia programmes dismantled.
Netanyahu is holding talks with US officials to better understand the situation, CNN reported, citing an Israeli source it did not identify.
No mention of key US demands in Washington’s memorandum
A source briefed on the mediation told Reuters that the US negotiations were being led by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. If both sides agreed on the preliminary deal, that would start the clock on 30 days of detailed negotiations to reach a full agreement.
The full agreement would include the US lifting sanctions and releasing frozen Iranian funds, Iran and the US lifting competing blockades on the Strait of Hormuz, and some curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme, with the aim of a pause or moratorium on Iranian enrichment of uranium.
While the sources said the US memorandum would not initially require concessions from either side, they did not mention several key demands Washington has made in the past, which Iran has rejected, such as curbs on Iran’s missile programme and an end to its support for proxy militias in the Middle East.
Other sources Rueters spoke to also mentioned potential curbs on future Iranian enrichment of uranium, but made no mention of Iran’s existing stockpile of more than 400 kg of it, already enriched to near weapons grade, which Washington has previously demanded it give up before any end to the war.
And even if the reported text appeared to sidestep some demands rejected by Iran in the past, there were indications Teheran could still hold out for more US concessions.
In a post on X, Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for parliament’s powerful foreign policy and national security committee, described the text reported by Axios as “more of an American wish list than a reality”.
“The Americans will not gain anything in a war they are losing that they have not gained in face-to-face negotiations,” he wrote.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, visiting China, made no mention of Trump’s latest remarks, but said Teheran was holding out for “a fair and comprehensive agreement”. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
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