President Donald Trump said Iran wants to reopen the Strait of Hormuz "immediately because they're losing so badly" as he confirmed Saturday that he has rejected Tehran's proposal to halt the fighting and reopen the waterway within seven days. "I'm rejecting their deal," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a campaign trip to Tennessee. "We have total control of the Hormuz Strait." He said the deal would not be acceptable, that 29 ships came out of the strait overnight and that he remains open to a different agreement.

The Iranian plan, presented by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the United Nations and conveyed through Qatari mediators, would halt regional fighting, reopen Hormuz on the seventh day and restart nuclear talks in exchange for ending the US naval blockade, releasing at least $12 billion in frozen assets and lifting sanctions on Iranian oil. "The choice now rests with the United States," Araghchi said Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that Trump has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections and has informed Tehran he will not lift the naval blockade.

The offer largely mirrored the memorandum of understanding Trump signed in June, which collapsed within weeks after Iran accused the US of breaching it by keeping the blockade in place. Yemen's Houthis launched fresh attacks toward Riyadh on Saturday, with Saudi air defenses intercepting two drones and a ballistic missile. Iran says it is still awaiting an official US response, and President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Hormuz crisis can be resolved through negotiations rather than force.