(SeaPRwire) –   President Donald Trump stated that Iran has informed him it is in a “state of collapse” and desires the U.S. to open the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible” as they work to “resolve their leadership issues.”

He did not provide details on how the message was conveyed or who specifically delivered it.

Trump’s comments on Tuesday came as reports surfaced that he is dissatisfied with Iran’s latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz—a plan purported to call for the U.S. to lift its blockade of Iran’s ports in the waterway but sets aside matters related to the nuclear program.

“We have been clear about our red lines and the President will only make a deal that’s good for the American people and the world,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told TIME when approached about the reported proposal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has rejected any proposal that does not prioritize discussions about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon,” he told Fox News on Monday night, emphasizing that Iran’s nuclear capability remains a “fundamental issue” that “still has to be confronted.”

When asked if Iran is committed to striking a deal, Rubio implied that its negotiators are trying to stall for time.

“We can’t let them get away with it,” he said. “They’re very good negotiators. They’re very experienced negotiators, and we have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

Rubio also noted that the reopening of the Strait cannot depend on Iran retaining control over the critical waterway, which carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil output.

“Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway and how much you have to pay them to use it,” he argued, reemphasizing that no vessel should have to pay a toll to Iran to secure safe passage.

In the meantime, the U.S. naval blockade continues to be in effect.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Tuesday that Marines had stopped and inspected another ship to verify that its route would not include a stop at an Iranian port. According to CENTCOM, 39 vessels have been rerouted since the U.S. naval blockade started on April 13.

U.S.-Iran peace negotiations stall, with no clear end to the Iran war in sight

The President called off a scheduled trip by his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff to Islamabad, Pakistan on April 25 due to uncertainty about whether Iranian negotiators would participate.

“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” he said of his decision. “Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge, including them.”

A comparable trip by Vice President J.D. Vance, who was supposed to travel to Islamabad last week, was also scrapped at the eleventh hour.

The breakdown of the negotiations has left the already precarious cease-fire in a long-standing deadlock.

The President has blamed the negotiation breakdown on internal rifts within Iran’s leadership, which followed the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Their leaders are gone, which is a good thing, they were far more radicalised than the people we are dealing with right now,” Trump said Sunday. “The people we’re dealing with now, some of them are very reasonable people and others are not, and they are not getting along, there’s a lot of infighting.”

However, Iranian officials have attempted to refute that description, releasing coordinated social media statements to project a unified stance.

An Iranian military spokesperson also told state media on Tuesday that the conflict is still ongoing and warned of possible retaliation against any military action.

“We do not consider the war to be over,” the spokesperson said, according to state media. “The situation is still considered wartime and the database of targets and forces’ equipment has been updated.

“The dear nation is assured that if any aggression is repeated by the enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran Army will confront it with new tools and methods and in new arenas.”

Gulf Nations react to Iran’s infrastructure attacks amid energy crisis

Saudi Arabia held a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Gulf and Arab leaders met face-to-face for the first time since Iran started targeting infrastructure across the region after the war began on Feb. 28. The attacks have decreased since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a cease-fire.

Officials from the United Arab Emirates condemned the attacks, describing them as a “blatant violation of national sovereignty and a clear breach of international law and the United Nations Charter.”

They also “affirmed the right of all targeted countries to respond to these attacks in a manner that ensures the protection of their sovereignty, national security, territorial integrity, and the safety of their citizens, residents and visitors.”

The ongoing disruption of the Strait of Hormuz continues to exert persistent pressure on global energy markets.

Separately, the UAE declared it would leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC and OPEC+) starting May 1, 2026, taking away one of the cartel’s biggest producers.

Brent crude oil reached over $112 per barrel on Tuesday, per Trade Economics, indicating ongoing market volatility during the current energy crisis.