Updated May 6, 2026 at 1:38 PM PDT
Iran is assessing the Trump administration's latest proposal to end the war, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Wednesday.
Iran will relate its response to mediating country Pakistan, Baqaei told Iran's ISNA news agency.
NPR has not confirmed the details of the proposal, and the White House has not made them public.
ISNA said Iran's negotiators are discussing the end of the war, not the nuclear issue, which would come at a later stage of negotiations. The news outlet dismissed U.S. news reports about a memorandum of understanding as "media speculation."
The comments came after President Trump issued a mixed message about the status of diplomacy with Iran. It follows Trump's sudden suspension Tuesday of a U.S. military effort to help merchant vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz, while continuing a U.S. naval blockade on Iran's ports.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran," Trump wrote online Wednesday morning. "If they don't agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before."
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The Strait of Hormuz — an important passageway for oil, fertilizer and other goods — has been effectively closed since the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Iran on Feb. 28, disrupting global energy supplies and pushing up fuel prices. Iran has attacked commercial ships that try to transit the strait without its approval. The U.S. has imposed its naval blockade since April 13. U.S. Central Command said that, as of Wednesday, its blockade had turned around 52 vessels.
Central Command said Wednesday that U.S. forces disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker heading toward an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman. It said a U.S. fighter jet fired several rounds at the vessel's rudder, after its crew ignored "multiple warnings" that it was violating the U.S. blockade.
The ship, Central Command added, was "no longer transiting to Iran," noting that "CENTCOM forces continue to act deliberately and professionally to ensure compliance."
Starting Monday, the U.S. launched an effort called "Project Freedom" to break through Iran's stranglehold on the strait. Two U.S.-flagged merchant ships are known to have gotten through during the brief effort. The U.S. military said the operation came under fire from the Iranians and that several Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats were sunk.
Then on Tuesday, Trump announced the operation was on pause due to "great progress" toward a final agreement with Iran.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be provided, but it was not immediately clear how much the move would reopen the shipping route.
"With the end of the aggressors' threats and in light of new procedures, safe and sustainable transit through the strait will be facilitated," the Revolutionary Guard's navy command said in an online statement. It did not give details about the new terms.
This is a developing story that may be updated.
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