US President Donald Trump has been weighing the possibility of declaring victory against Iran without achieving a nuclear deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials.
According to the officials, Trump privately floated the idea to his senior aides. If the US can keep Iran’s nuclear program in check and traffic resumes in the Strait of Hormuz, then Trump would be more likely to extend the ceasefire “indefinitely,” the officials told WSJ.
In recent weeks, the president told senior aides privately that Tehran is “likely unable to revive its nuclear work,” after Operation Midnight Hammer caused heavy damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in June 2025, the officials added.
The US’s intelligence capabilities would likely catch any Iranian attempts to rebuild these facilities or covertly build a nuclear bomb, Trump said in recent meetings, and the president is confident that any threat of more US attacks would “serve as an enduring deterrent,” WSJ reported.
The officials also expect the president will lift the US’s naval blockade on the Islamic Republic’s ports if Tehran fully reopens the strait.
Trump is “patient and expected to ride out the latest diplomatic snarl, especially so long as gas prices remain where they are,” WSJ cited officials as saying.
The US has “completed all of its military objectives against Iran,” and the president’s focus is “securing the flow of the world’s energy through the Strait of Hormuz and will keep military options on the table should Iran further target ships,” a White House official told WSJ.
“Iran’s recent hardline demands for reopening the strait make it increasingly difficult for the president to manufacture a face-saving off-ramp from the conflict,” Director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mona Yacoubian, said.
“The Iranians fully believe Trump wants out and is focused on opening the strait, which is why they are playing hardball,” Gregory Brew, an Iran expert at the Eurasia Group consulting firm, added.
Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until US ‘corrects behavior,’ IRGC commander says
However, the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the United States “corrects its behavior,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr announced on Friday in a message publicized by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
Zolghadr laid out six conditions under which, by Iran’s consideration, the US would be correcting its behavior.
According to Zolghadr, the US must end all aggression against Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Palestine; Never verbally threaten Iran; Lift its naval blockade and withdraw all naval and air forces; Pay for the damages of the wars against Iran; Lift all sanctions against Iran; And release all frozen Iranian assets.
Meanwhile, Trump spoke optimistically about the end of the war with Iran during the signing of an executive order in the White House on Thursday.
“I think it’s going to end pretty soon,” he said, adding that “I don’t think they [Iran] can go much longer.”
Regarding the Strait of Hormuz and a rumored deal to reopen the waterway, Trump said that the strait is “sort of open right now.”
“You know, we have a thing called the blockade, headed up by the US Navy, and we control it,” he said. “But they can always shoot something.”
Tzvi Jasper and Idan Kweller contributed to this report.
