President Trump says there are no talks with Iran and the U.S. naval blockade stays in force, even as Tehran fires missiles toward the UAE and oil prices spike toward $92.
President Donald Trump delivered a blunt message to Tehran on Tuesday: there are no talks, no negotiations scheduled, and the U.S. naval blockade of Iran is staying in place. The statement came as the United Arab Emirates reported that two missiles launched from the direction of Iran splashed into the sea, triggering the first Gulf missile alert in weeks and pushing oil prices toward $92 a barrel.
"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated."
The president also posted a map of the strategic waterway labeled "New US territory," underscoring Washington's refusal to yield as the standoff over the world's most important oil chokepoint enters a new and more dangerous phase.
Emirati authorities said Tuesday evening that their air-defense systems detected a threat directed toward the country, and that two missiles fired from the direction of Iran fell into the sea. It was the first such alert in weeks, a fresh sign that the conflict could be entering another period of escalation in the Gulf.
The alert came one day after the 60-day window established under a June U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding expired. That arrangement, designed to halt military operations and restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, has been effectively dead since the ceasefire collapsed last month.
Iran has closed the strait since the U.S.-led campaign against the regime began in late February, attacking commercial vessels that attempt to transit without its permission. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas moves through Hormuz in peacetime, making the waterway a linchpin of global energy markets.
Despite Tehran's bluster, the pressure campaign is working. Shipping data shows traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a trickle, with just a handful of confirmed vessels transiting on any given day compared with the 130 to 140 that moved through before the war. Iran's economy, already crushed by sanctions, bleeds further with every week the blockade holds.
Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf insisted the strait will remain shut until Washington meets Tehran's conditions, and a senior Iranian official told Reuters the regime is shifting toward a "fully offensive" posture amid the diplomatic stalemate. But Tehran's demands -- lifting sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, withdrawing U.S. forces, and paying compensation -- remain nonstarters.
Iran has reached an understanding with Oman on a route map for ships transiting Hormuz, but the White House has made clear it will not tolerate interference. Trump warned the U.S. would not hesitate to strike Oman if it "gets in the way" of a potential deal, while maritime authorities reported another vessel struck by an unknown projectile in the strait.
The coming days will test whether Tehran's threats are real or bluster. Trump said Monday that informal contacts were still taking place, adding that the Iranians are "good poker players, but they're dying." "I have no time schedule," he said. "I'm not in a hurry."
That patience is the strategy. With the blockade in full force, oil revenues choked off, and shipping through Hormuz at a fraction of pre-war levels, the administration is betting that economic pressure will eventually force Tehran to accept real terms rather than empty ultimatums.
Watch for fresh missile alerts in the Gulf, the separate Houthi front in the Red Sea -- where Yemen's Iran-backed rebels claimed a drone attack on a Saudi oil facility -- and whether Iran actually follows through on its promised "fully offensive" posture. One thing is clear: the U.S. is not blinking.
President Trump says there are no talks with Iran and the U.S. naval blockade stays in force, even as Tehran fires missiles toward the UAE and oil prices spike toward $92.
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