Posted on 07/11/2026 7:34:51 AM PDT by Red Badger
President Trump just put Iran on a very short clock.
By Saturday, the regime is expected to publicly acknowledge that the Strait of Hormuz is open and pledge that commercial ships will not be attacked.
Washington is demanding more than another foggy diplomatic promise. Tehran must say the words in public, where the entire world can hold the regime to them.
Axios reported that the demand was delivered both directly to Tehran and through regional mediators, according to three U.S. officials who briefed reporters Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to meet Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat on Saturday. U.S. officials expect a public statement from Iran after that meeting.
That makes Saturday more than another round of diplomatic theater. It is the first hard test of whether Tehran can control its own armed factions and honor even the most basic part of the agreement it signed only weeks ago.
Axios also reported that Iranian representatives reached out after two days of clashes and sought to resume talks. One U.S. official said Tehran’s message was essentially an admission that it had made a mistake.
In plain English: Iran wants negotiations to continue, but Washington wants proof that Iranian promises mean something.
The Associated Press independently reported that President Trump has given U.S. negotiators only a limited window to reach a deal and that the administration has a wide range of options if the talks collapse.
The same report described the battle at the heart of the dispute. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations insisted that opening, demining, and managing the Strait rests exclusively with Iran.
The AP noted that roughly one-fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway before the war. Iran’s effort to dictate passage has already contributed to an energy crisis, even though oil prices have fallen from their wartime highs.
U.S. officials also said there will be no final nuclear agreement while Iran refuses to honor the simpler ceasefire terms. Any nuclear deal would require Tehran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Iran’s exclusive-control claim is one the United States flatly rejects.
CENTCOM said Iran does not control the Strait and noted that U.S. forces have helped facilitate more than 800 successful ship transits since early May.
The distinction matters. Iran is trying to turn an international waterway into a tollbooth backed by missiles and drones.
The Trump administration is demanding that Tehran publicly abandon that claim.
Before the war, roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas moved through the Strait. Any regime that believes it can decide which ships pass and which ships get fired upon is holding far more than the Gulf hostage.
CBS News reported earlier this week that the administration revoked a waiver allowing Iranian oil sales after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked three tankers in the Strait.
The waiver had been issued only two weeks earlier under the 60-day U.S.-Iran memorandum. Treasury replaced it with a narrower license that bars new Iranian oil sales while allowing already pending transactions to wind down through July 17.
The original arrangement tied every benefit to Iranian performance. It required safe passage for commercial ships, paused the fighting while nuclear talks continued, and allowed Iran to sell oil only while it kept its side of the bargain.
The tanker attacks broke that bargain. CENTCOM answered with retaliatory strikes, the administration shut down new oil sales, and President Trump declared the ceasefire over.
CBS also reported that the dispute immediately moved energy markets. Brent crude rose to $75 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate reached $71 after the waiver was revoked.
The stakes were already familiar to American drivers. Gasoline had climbed above $4.50 a gallon in May when shipping through the Strait was effectively choked off.
Now even Iranian officials reportedly admit that their side blew it.
If that account is true, Tehran’s next move should be easy.
Say publicly that the Strait is open. Promise that commercial vessels will not be attacked.
Then rein in the hardliners who tried to wreck the deal.
If Iran refuses, nobody should pretend the problem is a misunderstanding. It will be a choice.
Saturday is the deadline. The world is about to find out whether Iran wants a deal or another round with President Trump.
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So midnight tonight?
6:10 pm, Saturday right now in Tehran.
“Tehran must say the words in public, where the entire world can hold the regime to them.”
Exactly who is this “Tehran”?
Oh boy! Another “deadline”. Iran is bustin’ a gut!
Deadline extension #1000 forthcoming
Another deadline? I bet those muzzies are skered.
oh yea. from their holes in the ground. Pathetic
Another deadline. I am sure Iran is scared. Not.
Trump has no credibility on Iran. A big embarrassment. He fumbled this big time. No proper planning or execution.
“...or another round with President Trump.”
The earth was shakin’, the Mullah’s knees were shakin’, and Trump wasn’t fakin’ it.
Oops...knees were quakin’!
There's no reason they should take him seriously at this point.
Trump is not talking to us you misguided whiner. He s dealing with an insane regime.
Prez. Trump has a clear schedule thru Sunday. We’ll see if this is why.
That works both ways.
I was listening to the UN Meeting....and everyone seems to really back what President Trump is opting for and says Iran is the bad actor and has to change its ways.
The FRampires will be out in force on this thread. It has a short timeline.
This makes “Red Line” number ... 8?
Number 9?
The main criticism I have of President Trump: he has repeatedly placed into Iran's hands the power to humiliate him (meaning Trump).
President Trump over and over has publicly made predictions about what was going to happen and when, knowing the Iranians would likely do the opposite to make him look bad on the world stage.
It looks to me that a school boy would know better. Giving that kind of power to your sworn enemy is no way to negotiate. I am completely baffled.
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