WASHINGTON—For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior aides that he’s willing to walk away without a nuclear deal, U.S. officials said.
But that scaled-back objective became more difficult when Iran insisted Saturday on its highest price yet for permitting the free flow of traffic in the waterway, seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the removal of American troops from the region and an end of the U.S. naval blockade, among other things.
If the U.S. can keep the nuclear program in check and traffic resumes in the strait, then Trump is more likely to extend the current ceasefire indefinitely, the officials said. Trump also is expected to lift the U.S. military blockade on Iranian ports if Tehran fully reopens the strait, they added.
One major complication for the Trump administration is money. Iran is seeking billions of dollars in war reparations in addition to an agreement to unfreeze the country’s assets around the world. Trump has said the White House wouldn’t allow any taxpayer money to go to Iran, although a deal appears unlikely without the U.S. unfreezing some assets, possibly with conditions attached.
There also is a dispute about whether the U.S. should issue waivers to let Iran sell oil on the open market. The U.S. had agreed to the waivers last June as part of an interim peace agreement with Iran. That ceasefire fell apart after Iran attacked ships in the strait, and the U.S. reinstated sanctions on the Iranian oil trade.
Trump’s recent comments indicate he is looking for an exit.
The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports meant the Strait of Hormuz was “sort of open right now,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, though the president acknowledged Tehran could still damage ships with missiles, drones and mines. He also has suggested Iran’s buried uranium stockpile was a nonissue.
“We’ve already got the nuclear material, because it’s so far underground,” Trump said during July’s summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “Nobody’s going to be able to get it except us.”
Write to Alexander Ward at alex.ward@wsj.com