Iran Rejects US Hormuz Terms Amid New Strikes

Iranian officials rejected the United States response to Tehran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. President Donald Trump simultaneously confirmed that American military forces had conducted strikes on Qeshm Island. The island sits in the Persian Gulf near the critical shipping lane. These developments occurred as diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider war continued.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, stated that Washington's reply lacked conviction. He wrote on X that the US must fully address Iran's seven conditions and act upon them. Rezaei insisted the strait would only reopen after these demands were met. The seven conditions include lifting sanctions and ending the American naval blockade. Iran proposed a two-day timeline for the waterway's reopening if the terms were satisfied.

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said negotiations were ongoing. He noted that both sides remained committed to the process. Qatar is facilitating a real-time exchange of proposals between the two nations. Trump told Fox News that US forces struck an anti-aircraft facility on Qeshm Island early on Tuesday. He described the operation as a minor attack and insisted it was not a war. Trump said the US watched the facility get built over two months before hitting it upon completion.

US officials told American media the strikes were defensive. They claimed Iranian fire had targeted an American aircraft first. Central Command has drawn up plans for additional strikes that could begin as early as Wednesday. This timing follows the midterm elections. Three American aircraft carriers will be in the region at that time. Trump warned of further action but said he was not looking to kill lots of people. In a separate interview, he suggested he was satisfied with the current stand-off.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, ordered the military to answer any threat immediately. He directed commanders to update their list of targets without geographical limits. Iranian officials suggested European countries and undersea cables in the Gulf could be hit. Commercial shipping faced further danger on Tuesday. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that two unidentified projectiles struck a tanker's engine room. The impact occurred 14 nautical miles northeast of Oman's coastal village of Limah. No casualties were reported in that incident.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed four tankers struck mines and caught fire. The group said the vessels had switched off navigation and identification systems. The IRGC also claimed it seized two other vessels and destroyed two US LUCAS attack drones. John Mearsheimer, a US political scientist, questioned whether another short bombing campaign would work. He warned that Iranian retaliation could pull the US into a longer confrontation and deepen damage to the global economy.