Trump changes course from ‘hammer Iran’ to ‘strangle them’ – report

President Trump reportedly moving away from use of military force to pressure Iran to long-term economic strangulation.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

President Donald Trump has ordered his senior negotiators to stop engaging with Iran, marking a sharp shift in US strategy after months of intermittent diplomacy failed to produce an end to the nearly six-month war or restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump instructed his negotiating team — including Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — to halt conversations with Tehran, CNN reported Tuesday, citing a US official.

The move, the report said, is part of a broader change in the administration’s approach to Iran.

White House officials have told political allies that the strategy is moving from trying to rapidly batter Tehran into submission to applying sustained economic pressure.

One source familiar with the administration’s thinking described the change as going from “hammer Iran ASAP” to “strangle them” over time.

Trump publicly confirmed that diplomacy had stopped in a Truth Social post Tuesday.

“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote.

“The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The declaration came only a day after Kushner offered a markedly different assessment of contacts between Washington and Tehran.

Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Kushner said communications with different elements of the Iranian government were “probably more robust than it’s maybe ever been.”

“They’re engaging in a very strong way and that’s quite positive,” Kushner said. “We are having very positive and active conversations.”

Iran has repeatedly denied that it is engaged in direct negotiations with Washington, while acknowledging messages have been exchanged through intermediaries.

According to CNN, Trump’s order to stop engaging came despite what administration officials characterized as some “positive discussions” with Tehran.

The president was nevertheless dissatisfied with Iran’s refusal to accept US demands and has decided not to resume negotiations unless Iranian leaders first demonstrate a greater willingness to make concessions, the report said.

The change could signal that Washington is preparing for a prolonged standoff rather than another immediate round of large-scale military operations.

US officials expect the administration to impose sweeping new sanctions on Iran, potentially as early as this week.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military officials have also said American forces are prepared to enforce the blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely.

The administration’s calculation is that Iran’s already battered economy will eventually force Tehran to accept US terms.

Iran appears to be making the opposite calculation: that the military, economic and political costs of the war will eventually force Trump to compromise.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters this week that Tehran was moving toward a “fully offensive” military posture as attempts to reach a permanent settlement stalled.

The immediate flashpoint remains the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that carried roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas before the war.

Trump maintains that the strait is open, but maritime traffic remains only a fraction of prewar levels and vessels attempting to transit the waterway continue to face Iranian attacks.

Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Tuesday that Tehran considers the strait closed and will not restore normal passage until Washington complies with the terms Iran says were contained in an interim agreement signed in June.

Iran is demanding that the United States end its blockade of Iranian ports, remove oil sanctions, release frozen Iranian assets and halt military threats and operations.

Washington rejects Tehran’s interpretation of the agreement.

The June 17 memorandum of understanding was intended to create a 60-day window for the United States and Iran to negotiate a permanent end to the conflict and address Iran’s nuclear program.

That deadline expired Monday without an agreement.

A separate dispute has emerged over negotiations between Iran and Oman concerning traffic through the strait.

Both countries border the waterway, and proposals under discussion reportedly envision Tehran and Muscat playing roles in regulating ships entering and leaving the Persian Gulf.

The president has become increasingly angry over the potential agreement, particularly proposals that could allow fees to be imposed on commercial vessels.

Trump lashed out at Oman Monday, despite the Gulf state’s longstanding strategic relationship with Washington and its history of acting as an intermediary between the United States and Iran.

“I don’t think they behaved very well, but we’d handle them very easily — just like we do others,” Trump told reporters.

In a separate Fox News interview, Trump was considerably more explicit, warning, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the sh*t out of them.”

Trump has also suggested declaring the Strait of Hormuz US territory.

On Tuesday, he posted an image of the waterway labeled “US Territory,” further underscoring the widening gulf between Washington’s and Tehran’s visions for the strategically vital passage.

The diplomatic freeze comes as pressure grows on the administration to find an end to the war.

US forces have been deployed to the region for historically long periods, with the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group among the assets experiencing extended operations.

At home, rising fuel prices and the war’s growing unpopularity have created additional political pressure ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Trump, however, has repeatedly insisted he is not operating under a deadline.

“I have no time schedule. I’m not in a hurry,” he said Monday.

He has also continued to insist that whatever happens with the Strait of Hormuz or negotiations over sanctions, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains his overriding objective.

“The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote Monday.