Axios: Trump Chooses Economic Pressure Over Broad War With Iran as Tehran Sets New Conditions for Reopening Strait of Hormuz

Axios reported, as relayed by Donya-e-Eqtesad on Sunday, 18 Mordad 1405 (August 9, 2026), that US President Donald Trump told the outlet in a brief call that Washington is moving quietly for now and negotiating with Iran only to a limited extent, choosing to let economic pressure on Tehran build rather than ordering a return to broad war. He said Iran is economically "in very bad shape" and cannot pay its military, and that the US naval blockade has deepened that crisis. Trump also claimed that oil's drop to just over $75 a barrel has eased the cost of the war for American consumers.

According to the same report, Qatari and Pakistani mediators had earlier expected a US-Iran deal on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to be announced on Wednesday, 14 Mordad, but the outlook has since dimmed. On Saturday, 17 Mordad, Mohammad-Baqer Zolghadr, then secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, set out a new list of conditions for fully reopening the strait, beyond the proposed arrangement with Oman: an end to any threats or insults toward Iran, a permanent end to the war against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Iraq, lifting the naval blockade and withdrawing US forces from around Iran, full compensation for war damages, and lifting sanctions with the unconditional release of Iran's frozen assets. Separately, Al Jazeera, citing informed sources, reported that Tehran is awaiting a formal US commitment to lift the port blockade and suspend sanctions.