“WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration believes that a nuclear deal with Iran is growing increasingly unlikely, senior U.S. officials told reporters Friday, in a rare acknowledgment that one of the president's core foreign policy goals of capping Tehran's nuclear program might not be achievable through peace talks.
The officials said Iran should release a statement declaring that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that it will stop shooting at ships. One of the officials suggested there would be serious consequences if such a promise wasn't made by Saturday, while others didn't suggest there was a firm deadline.
The comments raise questions about whether President Trump is preparing for another shift in strategy after declaring the U.S.-Iran ceasefire over.
Among his options would be to resume all-out war to try to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also could sign a deal that falls short of his demands or walk away from the conflict altogether, even though doing so would leave control of the Strait of Hormuz in question.
"They violate the agreement every day, they lie, they cheat, they kill people," Trump told reporters Wednesday.
"They'll never build a nuclear weapon under our deal, but I don't know if we're going to have a deal."
Under an interim peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran, which was signed in June, Iran promised to make arrangements to restore shipping and ensure safe passage of commercial ships. Iranian hard-liners have interpreted the agreement as maintaining control of the strait, firing upon commercial ships that don't transit along designated routes.
The senior U.S. officials said that if Iran can't abide by the agreement -- which gave Iran financial benefits in exchange for reopening of the strait -- then there is little hope of reaching a far more complex deal to dispose of Iran's nuclear material and impose long-term caps on its program.
One of the officials said Iran recently communicated to the U.S. that it was a mistake to shoot at commercial ships and that both sides should continue negotiations.
There also can't be a nuclear deal if Iran fails to hand control of its buried enriched uranium to the U.S., the officials said. The U.S. has low-cost military options to block access to the nuclear material forever, the officials added, although there have long been concerns that Washington would have trouble confirming how much uranium was destroyed in an attack.
Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to reach a final nuclear agreement, although that period could be extended. Iran made no explicit promises to scale back its nuclear program in the interim deal, but it did commit to the two sides reaching a satisfactory solution for handling Iran's existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
The deal also pledged the U.S. and Iran to maintain the "status quo" on Iran's nuclear work and U.S. sanctions for the period of negotiations. The U.S. Treasury Department announced Friday it was imposing new sanctions on a leading Iranian businessman, Ali Ansari, and entities linked to him.
The U.S. this past week also reimposed sanctions on Iran that had temporarily allowed it to sell oil on the open market and bring dollar-denominated revenue home, in addition to resuming military strikes. Officials said Tehran's violation of the interim memorandum of understanding, which lifted financial penalties on those sales, earned a reprimand.
The pessimism follows days of skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz, which led Trump to order one of the heaviest waves of bombardment in months.” [1]
Iran knows how to make the nuclear weapons. This couldn’t be reversed. Therefore, the business of destroying nuclear dust is a distraction.
The Strategic Challenge: While a significant portion of Iran's nuclear program sustained damage during the 2025 and 2026 strikes, their indigenous technical expertise and centrifuge manufacturing capabilities remain.
1. World News: Iran Nuclear Deal Is In Doubt, U.S. Says --- The comments raise questions about whether Trump's strategy will shift. Ward, Alexander. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 11 July 2026: A6.
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