President Donald Trump has agreed to keep negotiating with Iran while explicitly denying Tehran the central protection usually required for diplomacy to function: a ceasefire.
Trump said Friday that Iran had asked the US to continue talks and that Washington had accepted. In the same Truth Social post, however, he said the US had informed Tehran “in no uncertain terms” that the ceasefire was over.
Trump had already declared the interim accord “over” on July 8 after a renewed exchange of attacks between the US and Iran. Washington forces struck Iranian targets after it has accused Iran of attacking tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran subsequently targeted US military infrastructure in Bahrain and Kuwait. Trump ordered another round of American strikes and said the confrontation would end quickly.
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The breakdown came just 23 days after Trump signed a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in France on June 17.
The White House promoted the arrangement as a major breakthrough that would stop hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Administration allies described it as evidence that military pressure had forced Tehran to accept Trump’s terms.
The two governments gave themselves at least 60 days to implement the memorandum and negotiate a permanent truce. Subsequent talks exposed how little had been settled.
During meetings in Doha on July 1, negotiators focused on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the release of frozen Iranian funds. Reuters reported that sources familiar with the discussions said Iran’s nuclear program was not addressed, even as Trump told reporters that denuclearization negotiations were progressing well.
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Trump’s latest position preserves flexibility for Washington. Continuing talks gives the administration an avenue for de-escalation and a way to test whether renewed strikes have changed Iran’s bargaining position. Declaring the ceasefire over allows the US to conduct further attacks without characterizing them as violations of an agreement it still recognizes.
Iran may see a similar advantage in continuing negotiations. Talks could provide a route to sanctions relief, access to frozen assets, restored oil exports, or an arrangement over Hormuz without requiring Tehran to concede publicly under fire.
The risk is that neither side has a dependable mechanism to prevent a limited exchange from expanding.
Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator under Republican and Democratic administrations, told Reuters that Trump had “put himself in a box,” with neither military action nor diplomacy appearing likely to produce major Iranian concessions.
Trump’s claim that Iran requested further negotiations has also not been independently confirmed by an identified Iranian official.
Trump faces November midterm elections with elevated fuel prices, voter dissatisfaction, and pressure from within his party to deliver an exit from a war that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28. A June 23 Reuters/Ipsos poll placed his approval rating at 34%, matching the lowest level of his second term.
The administration therefore needs to show that talks remain possible without appearing to reward Iranian attacks or relinquish control over Hormuz. But the real question is how can you peacefully talk while loud strikes are flooding the noise?
