The US military fired on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday as President Donald Trump simultaneously pressed Tehran to accept a one-page memorandum ending the war. An American fighter jet fired several rounds at an unladen Iranian-flagged tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port, US Central Command said in a post on X, disabling the vessel.
It was the first confirmed US action under the standing blockade on Iranian ships since Operation Project Freedom was paused on Tuesday. NBC News, citing two unnamed US officials, said the abrupt halt to the Hormuz escort programme came after Saudi Arabia denied the US military permission to fly out of a Saudi base or through Saudi airspace for the operation. A call between Mr. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman failed to resolve the impasse.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said Washington had held “very good talks” with Iran over the past 24 hours and that there is “never a deadline” for Tehran to respond. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t, and they’ve agreed to that, among other things,” he said, though no Iranian confirmation has been issued. Earlier on Wednesday he had threatened on Truth Social to restart the bombing campaign, calling Iranian assent to the latest US text “a big assumption.”
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told the ISNA news agency that Tehran was reviewing the proposal and would convey its response through Pakistan, the principal mediator. A Pakistani source and another briefed on the talks said an agreement was close on a one-page, 14-point memo that would formally end the conflict and open a 30-day window to negotiate the lifting of competing Hormuz blockades, the rollback of US sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian funds and curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme. The sources made no mention of Iran’s existing stockpile of more than 400 kg of near-weapons-grade uranium, or of US demands on Tehran’s missile programme and proxy networks.
Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, who speaks for parliament’s national security committee, called the leaked text “more of an American wish-list than a reality.” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was sharper, posting in English that “Operation Trust Me Bro failed” and accusing Washington of spinning its inability to reopen the strait.
Reports of a possible deal sent oil prices tumbling to two-week lows. Brent crude futures dropped about 11 percent at one point, falling to roughly $98 a barrel before recovering above $100. Global equities rose and bond yields fell. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately said he and Mr. Trump had agreed that all enriched uranium must be removed from Iran. The strait, which carried about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas before the war began on February 28, remains effectively closed.
