President Donald Trump will hold off on military strikes while 'serious negotiations' are underway with Iran, but he emphasized the ceasefire will end should the country not reach a deal. Meanwhile, Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway, and the U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports, redirecting and disabling naval vessels. Rubio's comments ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Sweden focused on the military alliance's role in policing the strait post-war.
His remarks come as uncertainty looms overPresident Donald Trump has said he will hold off on military strikes while "serious negotiations" are underway, though he said the ceasefire will end if Iran doesn't make a deal.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products. The U.S. is blockading Iranian ports and has redirected 94 commercial vessels and disabled four others since mid-April, U.S. Central Command said. Women hold Iran's national flag and photo of country's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during an anti-US and Israel protest at the Hafte Tir Square in Tehran on May 17, 2026.
/Rubio's comments about negotiations with Iran came ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, where the military alliance discussed what role it could play in helping police the Strait of Hormuz once the war is over. Rubio said he did not want to exaggerate the progress, saying there had been "a little bit of movement and that's good.
" In recent weeks, repeated claims of progress have emerged, but a deal has stayed out of reach. Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off. But he’s also previously indicated he would hold off on military action to allow talks to play out, only to turn around and launch strikes. That happened at the war’s outset, when he ordered strikes in late February shortly after indicating he would let talks play out.
The president said he called off attacks on Iran this week at the request of allies in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran is "dying to make a deal" to end the war. Professor Alon Burstein from the The Israel-Palestine Report joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss. Pakistan's top army officer arrived Friday in Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders, Pakistani officials and the military confirmed.
It's the third round of meetings between Pakistani and Iranian officials in recent days. Field Marshal Asim Munir will be joined by Pakistan’s interior minister, who has already met with Iranian leaders in Tehran twice this week. Pakistan has sought a deal between Iran and the U.S. since Munir facilitated face-to-face talks between the two countries in Islamabad last month.
Qatar also sent a delegation to Tehran, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks. The delegation is working in coordination with other countries, including Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the official said. At the NATO meeting in Sweden, Rubio said he discussed reopening the strait with other foreign ministers. He said there needs to be a "plan B" if Washington and Tehran fail to reach a deal.
"Someone’s going to have to do something about it, OK? " Rubio said, insisting that Iran was not going to "voluntarily reopen" the strait. The American military has not found or destroyed any explosive mines in the Strait of Hormuz so far, but it is still searching, a U.S. official said Friday. No ships have been struck or damaged by mines in the strait either, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
That is even as some commercial traffic has been flowing, though at much lower volumes than before the war began. Trump said last month that he ordered the military to begin mine-clearing efforts as part of a broader push to get commercial ships to traverse the strait again following several attacks by Iran.
No evidence of mine-laying by the Iranians has emerged since the start of the conflict, and U.S. officials have repeatedly said that they targeted and destroyed that capability as part of the airstrikes across the country. Trump's decision to give more peace talks a chance sparked tension with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said Thursday that Trump and Netanyahu had a "dramatic" phone conversation Tuesday about the status of the Iranian negotiations and that Israel is angry with Trump’s efforts to strike a deal with Iran. The White House declined to comment on the substance or tenor of the call.
Trump told reporters after the conversation that Netanyahu "will do whatever I want him to do.
" The comments are some of the first public signs of daylight between the leaders since they launched the war.
Politics Diplomacy Iran Trump Military Strikes Negotiations Blockading Strait Of Hormuz Rubio NATO War Military Alliance Tehran Hefte Tir Square
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