Dozens of world leaders were discussing how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a videoconference on Friday when a murmur went up among the presidents and prime ministers. Aides off-screen began furiously tapping their shoulders and passing them notes.
In the middle of the meeting, led by France and Britain, President Trump declared on social media he had reached a breakthrough with Iran and the strait would be fully reopened.
Foreign leaders, aware that Trump has declared victory before, stayed on the line and kept planning.
The details of the coalition meeting, described by several officials on the line, underscored the mix of head-spinning confusion and cautious optimism that has gripped foreign leaders and financial markets over Trump’s efforts to strong-arm Iran into a peace deal.
For several hours on Friday, through a series of interviews and social-media posts, Trump insisted he got most of what he wanted from Iran after launching a war against the U.S.’s largest Middle Eastern rival: A full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, falling oil prices, a promise from Iran that it would give up its supply of enriched uranium, and commitments for Iran to halt its support for proxy terror groups in the region.
Trump’s optimism had followed a social-media post by Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, declaring the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” during the cease-fire.
Then walk-backs began.
Mahmoud Nabavian, a conservative lawmaker and member of Iran’s negotiating team, rebuffed Trump’s announcement that the strait was fully open. He said Iran would continue charging tolls for commercial ships going through the strait. Tasnim, an Iranian media outlet aligned with the country’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, chided Araghchi for his post.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should reconsider this type of communication,” Tasnim said.
The U.S. told Tehran it would give Iran access to $20 billion in frozen funds held in foreign countries as part of a deal for Iran to give up its stockpile of uranium, officials familiar with the negotiations said. But then Trump denied this proposal was on the table in an interview with CBS.
Trump at various points in the war has declared it on the cusp of being over or Iran on the verge of making a final deal, only for Tehran to dig in its heels. His bold declarations are part of his negotiating strategy, administration officials said, aimed at jolting negotiators into action and ratcheting up pressure on Iran to agree to a final deal.
But the strategy has sown confusion and doubt among close U.S. allies and some officials involved in the negotiations, who question whether Iran has really folded when the U.S. president says it has.
“Recent developments are encouraging, although we must view them with caution,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday after Trump posted about the breakthroughs on social media. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer cautioned that they would have to become “both workable and a lasting proposal.”
Talks between the U.S. and Iran haven’t officially been scheduled, but a senior Trump administration official said they are likely to take place on Monday in Pakistan. Trump’s negotiating team is on standby to participate in the negotiations, the official said. Pakistan is mediating the negotiations, and the talks could be hosted in Islamabad for a second time, though no final decision has been made. Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the negotiations again, alongside Trump’s Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.
“Only President Trump, not Iran, determines who negotiates on behalf of the United States,” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “We will not negotiate through the press, and anything not announced by President Trump or the White House should be considered speculation.”
The signaling and counter-signaling come days before Trump’s two-week cease-fire with Iran runs out.
Key questions remain over the mechanics of a final deal. In addition to sorting out the future of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the two sides need to work out their dispute over Iran’s ability to enrich uranium in the future.
The possibility of Iran’s permanent role in the administration of the waterway has alarmed the Gulf’s other energy producers, who rely on the strait for the bulk of their exports, and to energy consumers across Europe and Asia.
Later on Friday, when speaking with reporters, Trump played down the differences between the U.S. and Iran.
“If there are, we’ll have to straighten it out, but I don’t think there’s too many significant differences,” Trump said.
He said the U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports will end when an agreement is signed.
“We’ll see how it all turns out, but it should be good,” he said.
Write to Robbie Gramer at robbie.gramer@wsj.com, Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com and Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com