US demands Iran publicly state that Strait of Hormuz is open and Tehran
won't attack ships anymore
[July 11, 2026]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE, JON GAMBRELL and WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is demanding that Iran make a public
statement saying the Strait of Hormuz is open and that ships crossing
the vital corridor won’t be attacked anymore, senior U.S. officials said
Friday, adding that internal Tehran power struggles have made it
difficult to reach and keep a deal.
The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe to
reporters the state of play with Iran, said the resumption of strikes
this week came after what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian
hard-liners trying to sabotage the ceasefire between Tehran and
Washington.
It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated on social media
Friday that he views the interim ceasefire deal as “OVER!” But he said
the U.S. would continue talks aimed at putting a permanent end to the
war.
The officials said Friday that Trump is giving U.S. negotiators limited
time to reach a deal with Iran, but, in a sign of the challenges ahead,
they underscored that the president had a wide range of options if talks
fall apart. They also said a power struggle was playing out in real time
in Iran after U.S. and Israeli strikes at the start of the war killed
its longtime leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran says it wants to control Strait of Hormuz ‘exclusively’
The U.S. is working on pressing Iran to make a public statement that the
Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for world energy markets, is open and
free to ships to transit, the officials said.
On a call with reporters, the officials suggested that leaders in Iran
even told their U.S. counterparts that the ship strikes were a mistake
and the country hoped to continue negotiations despite that.
Trump didn't care that the firing on ships came from a hard-line faction
and responded with more powerful counterattacks, showing Iran that there
would be consequences no matter who was behind it, the officials said.
But moments before the U.S. officials spoke, Tehran’s diplomat at the
United Nations told reporters that any activity in the Strait of Hormuz,
including its opening or demining operations, “rests exclusively with
Iran.”
“Any attempt, by external actors, to interfere with or establish a power
arrangement would violate the (interim deal), and undermine its
implementation, delay the restoration of normal commercial navigation,
jeopardize maritime safety, and increase regional tensions,” Ambassador
Amir Saeid Iravani said outside the U.N. Security Council.
Iran has said the strait must now be under its sole control and that
vessels should begin to pay fees to Tehran — even though the world for
decades has considered it an international waterway. About a fifth of
all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war
began.
Iran's grip on the strait during the conflict led to a global energy
crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of
$120 a barrel.
Any nuclear deal will require Iran to turn over enriched material
The U.S. officials said to reporters Friday that any deal on Iran's
nuclear program would require Tehran to turn over its stockpile of
highly enriched uranium. If the U.S. does not reach a deal with Iran to
turn over its nuclear material, it has military options to ensure that
it remains buried underground forever, the officials said. They did not
detail those options.
The highly enriched material that could potentially be used to make a
nuclear weapon is believed to be buried after strikes the U.S. launched
on Iran last summer. Iran says its nuclear program is intended for
peaceful purposes.
The officials said they would never reach a nuclear deal with Iran if it
would not first abide by terms of the ceasefire deal and stop renewed
attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
That struggle underscores the long-term challenges the Trump
administration faces in the wake of the war it started and expected to
wrap up months ago. Trump in late February broke off talks with Iran
over its nuclear program and launched the military campaign, saying he
was taking the action because Tehran was attempting to rebuild its
program and develop long-range missiles.
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A man waves an Iranian flag during funeral ceremonies for slain
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his
family at Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran,
Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
He faces political pressure in the U.S. to bring the conflict and
its economic impact to a close and avoid the kind of prolonged
Middle East conflict he had campaigned against.
Unclaimed strikes came after US ended its attacks
No one claimed responsibility Friday for airstrikes that hit Iran
after the U.S. said it finished its attacks, leaving questions about
who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.
On Friday, Iranian state media quoted Esmail Kousari, a member of
the Iranian parliament’s national security committee and a former
commander in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, as warning the
UAE would “pay the price for its cooperation with the United
States.” He accused the Emirates of having a “behind-the-scenes”
role in the recent U.S. attacks.
U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said there were
“no operational updates” after Trump’s pronouncement about the
ceasefire.
Gulf Arab states, which Iran has targeted repeatedly since the war
began Feb. 28, did not immediately respond to requests for comment
Friday about the strikes. Israel, which took part in the Iran war,
also has not claimed any recent attacks on Iran.
The strikes Thursday, just as Iran prepared to bury the late
Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country’s theocracy
hasn’t directly blamed anyone, though one lawmaker warned the United
Arab Emirates about allegedly providing support to the U.S. campaign
against Iran.
Iran responded to the strikes Thursday by launching a wider volley
of attacks across the Mideast, targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and
Qatar. One person was reportedly hurt in Kuwait as air defense
systems targeted the incoming fire across the region.
Mediators and allies regroup after strikes
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi plans to discuss the strait
with his Omani counterpart at a meeting Saturday in Oman, Iran’s
state-run IRNA news agency said. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan
Fidan told his country’s state broadcaster TRT that he believed “a
solution can be reached” this weekend between Iran and Oman, which
lie on opposite sides of the narrow waterway.
The U.S. continues to urge mariners to travel on a southern route
through Oman’s territorial waters to avoid Iran.
The leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, traveled
to Kuwait immediately after the Iranian attack for a meeting with
the small, oil-rich nation's ruling emir. Gulf Arab countries also
held calls with Qatar's foreign minister. He has been deeply
involved, along with Pakistan, in mediating Iran-U.S. talks.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he spoke separately
Friday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and with Qatar’s
ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and stressed to both
the need for restraint and diplomacy.
Israel's government said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke
with Trump on Thursday night, with Trump updating Netanyahu “on
American moves in the Gulf.”
Israel Katz, Israel's defense minister, also renewed threats that
his nation stood ready to confront Iran if needed.
"If we will have to return, we will return with even greater force,”
Katz told a military ceremony.
___
Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington and
Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report. Gambrell
reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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