Trump says – As the three-month Iran-Israel war enters its 87th day, President Donald Trump told his representatives not to rush into an agreement. He kept the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz in place, while both sides continued to trade competing si
On a Monday marked as the 87th day of the war, Donald Trump moved to cool the feverish momentum his own administration had helped generate the day before.
Writing on Truth Social, the U.S. president told his representatives not to rush into any deal with Iran. The blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz. he said. would “remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached. certified. and signed.” The message landed like a reset button after earlier optimism raised fears of a sudden breakthrough that never fully materialized.
It also left another standoff in the dark: the Iranian government offered no immediate response. But the Tasnim news agency—linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—said the United States was still obstructing parts of a potential deal. including Tehran’s demand for the release of frozen funds.
For weeks. the talks have been described as a narrow path between two sides that disagree on some of the hardest issues—Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israel’s war in Lebanon. and the lifting of sanctions and release of frozen foreign assets worth billions of dollars. The latest signals from Washington and Tehran suggest that path is still there, but it is not smooth.
The day’s developments also underlined the human pressure mounting on both fronts.
In Iran, state media reported that a man identified as Abbas Akbari was executed over charges pertaining to the nationwide antigovernment protests in January.
At the same time, shipping data pointed to movements around the region. A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker was exiting the Strait of Hormuz and heading to Pakistan on Monday, while a China-bound supertanker with Iraqi crude left the Gulf on Saturday after being stranded for nearly three months.
Underneath those logistics, the diplomacy remained stuck on language.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters that an agreement would not be signed on Sunday, saying Iran’s system did not move fast enough. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the “latest contours” of what is being negotiated.
In that account, Iran had agreed “in principle” to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its naval blockade, and to dispose of Tehran’s highly enriched uranium. The official said the U.S. understood that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had endorsed the broad template of the deal.
But there was no immediate confirmation from Iran, and there was no elaboration on what “in principle” meant—an omission that matters when both sides have publicly pulled in different directions.
Those disagreements spilled into Washington’s political atmosphere as well. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi. India. on Sunday that the administration was aiming for a deal that would be “good.” “We’re either going to have a good agreement. or we’re going to have to deal with it another way. We’d prefer to have a good agreement,” Rubio said. He added that the president “is not going to make a bad deal – he’s just not. ” and said a “pretty solid” proposal is on the table.
Rubio’s comments came as Trump faced intensifying pushback from hawks within his Republican Party, including Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, who are opposed to a negotiated end to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Even outside the immediate battlefield of diplomacy, the war continued to ripple through daily life and markets.
In India, state-owned fuel retailers increased diesel prices by 2.71 rupees ( $0.0283 ) per litre and petrol by 2.61 rupees, dealers said. It was the fourth hike in May as authorities tried to recoup losses driven by higher crude costs tied to the war on Iran.
In Japan, the Nikkei breached the historic 65,000 mark for the first time, with increased appetite for risk assets linked to growing optimism about a potential agreement to end the war.
And in Lebanon, the fighting did not pause for the calendar.
The National News Agency reported that two houses were destroyed in Arzoun town in southern Lebanon’s Tyre area in an Israeli air attack, with rescue teams on site to evacuate the injured. Israel continued attacks despite a ceasefire, according to the reporting.
The Israeli military said one soldier was killed during combat in southern Lebanon, and that another one was severely injured and rushed to hospital.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported that Israeli drones were hovering over the Lebanese capital for the second consecutive day.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun released a statement marking Resistance and Liberation Day. observing the date in 2000 when Israel ended its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon. He said. “The path to a complete Israeli withdrawal remains a steadfast national demand. one that the Lebanese state is working to achieve through negotiations.”.
Taken together. the sequence of messages makes the stakes harder to ignore: Trump’s insistence that the blockade stays in force until a deal is certified and signed is paired with administration talk about a template already backed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and an “in principle” opening of the Strait of Hormuz—while Tehran-linked reporting points to a key sticking point over frozen funds.
For now, the optimism that briefly flickered appears to have been restrained by one central reality: no signature on Sunday, and no rush from Washington.
As the war reaches its 87th day, the question is no longer whether diplomacy is moving. It’s whether the pieces—nuclear limits, the Strait’s status, sanctions, and the fate of frozen assets—can be aligned tightly enough to produce a final agreement rather than another round of “in principle” talk.
Iran war Strait of Hormuz Trump Truth Social Marco Rubio frozen funds sanctions Lebanon ceasefire Nikkei 65000 Abbas Akbari