Trump weighs Iran war exit without nuclear deal: WSJ

President Donald Trump has privately told senior aides he could end the U.S.-Iran war without securing a nuclear agreement if Tehran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 9, citing U.S. officials.

The report comes as Iran raises the price for reopening the waterway, tying compensation, sanctions relief and wider security demands to any durable arrangement.

The White House has not publicly confirmed that Trump has changed his nuclear objective. Its latest published Iran remarks, from July 28, instead repeated that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and said military options remain available if diplomacy fails. The reported willingness to “walk away without a nuclear deal” therefore remains a private policy consideration, not an announced shift in U.S. strategy.

Iran’s latest demands complicate the Hormuz exit path

The Journal reported that Iran is seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the withdrawal of American forces from the region and an end to the U.S. naval blockade. Reuters separately reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is demanding compensation for U.S. attacks, while Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, secretary of Iran’s top security body, called for sanctions relief, freed Iranian assets and an end to U.S. military pressure on Iran and its regional allies.

Tehran has also separated its talks with Oman from a broader settlement with Washington. Araqchi said an Iran-Oman agreement defining new shipping lanes is in “final stages,” but said the waterway would not reopen simply because that technical arrangement is completed. He added that Iran and the U.S. are not in direct talks, although messages continue through intermediaries.

A U.S. official told Reuters that Washington would lift its blockade of Iranian ports once commercial shipping resumes without impediments. That creates a sequencing problem: Washington wants shipping restored before lifting the blockade, while Iran says broader U.S. concessions must come first.

The proposed arrangement also remains politically sensitive because Reuters reported that one version could give Tehran a role in controlling ships entering the Gulf. U.S. officials have repeatedly opposed Iranian control of Hormuz and mandatory tolls, leaving another unresolved issue even if technical shipping lanes are agreed.

Trump’s public nuclear line has not formally changed

The strongest reason to treat the latest report cautiously is the gap between Trump’s private comments and public position. In a July 28 White House statement, Trump maintained that Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon and warned that U.S. forces could strike additional sites if diplomacy failed. The administration has not issued a public statement reversing that position.

The Journal, however, reported that Trump has privately told aides Tehran may be unable to rebuild its nuclear program during his presidency after earlier U.S. strikes damaged major facilities. According to the report, he believes U.S. intelligence could detect renewed work and that the threat of more military action could deter rebuilding. Those judgments are not a negotiated nuclear settlement.

A White House official told the Journal that the administration considers its military objectives completed and is now focused on restoring energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, while keeping military options available if Iran attacks shipping. That would make reopening Hormuz the near-term test for de-escalation even if the nuclear dispute remains unresolved.

Domestic politics add pressure. The Journal reported that Trump is prepared to wait through the latest negotiating difficulties as long as gasoline prices remain manageable. It put the U.S. national average at $4.02 a gallon on Saturday, compared with $3.16 a year earlier, with the midterm elections less than three months away.

Hormuz keeps oil and crypto markets sensitive

Markets remain focused on whether shipping can normalize. Reuters reported that most Gulf stock markets ended Sunday subdued while investors waited for clarity on the Oman-Iran arrangement. Brent crude settled Friday at $83.55 a barrel, up $1.06, or 1.3%.

Bitcoin was trading near $65,184 on Sunday. There is no evidence that the Journal report alone caused the move, especially with U.S. markets closed. Still, the conflict has repeatedly fed into crypto risk sentiment through oil prices, inflation expectations and broader geopolitical risk.

As crypto.news reported on July 31, Bitcoin fell below $64,000 as renewed Iran fighting lifted oil and revived fears over energy disruption. Bitcoin later moved back above $64,000 as expectations for a Hormuz agreement improved. Those episodes help explain why crypto traders continue watching the negotiations even when the trigger is outside digital asset markets.

The Strait handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the current disruption, according to Reuters. A durable reopening could therefore affect energy prices, transport costs and inflation expectations, although the market response would depend on the terms and whether shipping normalizes in practice.

What happens next in the Iran talks

The next verifiable step is an Iran-Oman shipping agreement. Araqchi says the deal is close, but no final text has been published and Tehran says it will not be enough by itself to reopen the strait. Washington says its blockade can be lifted once commercial shipping resumes freely.

The broader demands remain harder to resolve. Iran is seeking compensation, sanctions relief, access to frozen assets and security concessions. As previously reported, access to frozen Iranian assets has surfaced in earlier negotiations as one potential bargaining point, although no current deal on that issue has been announced.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has not publicly agreed to Tehran’s latest terms, while the White House has not confirmed the Journal’s report that Trump would accept ending the war without a nuclear accord. Iran also continues to say there are no direct U.S.-Iran talks at present.

For now, reopening Hormuz appears to be the most tangible off-ramp available to Washington. Whether it becomes the basis for ending the conflict will depend on published terms, actual shipping access and whether both sides can sequence concessions without triggering another round of military escalation.