Trump: Won’t Rush Iran Deal While US Blockade Remains in Place

President Donald Trump said on May 24 on Truth Social that he has told his representatives not to rush into a deal with Iran and that “time is on [the United States’] side.”

“The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed,” Trump said in the post. “Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes! Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb.”

Trump criticized the Obama administration for its previous dealings with Iran.

“One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal,” Trump said in the post. “It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with Trump on May 23 about a memorandum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and upcoming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu thanked Trump for supporting Israel during recent military operations against Iran and said U.S. and Israeli forces worked closely together. He said both leaders agreed that any final deal with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat by dismantling Iran’s enrichment facilities and removing enriched nuclear material from the country.

Netanyahu also said Trump reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, including against threats from Lebanon, and pledged that Iran would never obtain nuclear weapons.

Trump posted on Truth Social that the agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was “largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other countries.”

Peace talks between the United States and Iran have been going on for more than six weeks amid disruption within the Strait of Hormuz, a critical seaway for shipping oil.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 24 that “significant progress” has been made with peace negotiations with Iran that he said ultimately could lead to “a world that no longer has to be in fear or worry about an Iranian nuclear weapon.”

Rubio made his comments during his four-day visit to India.

The United States launched Project Freedom on May 5 to help commercial ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz amid an Iranian blockade of the critical waterway.

Rubio said Iran’s actions have stranded nearly 23,000 civilians from 87 countries and disrupted global trade and oil shipments.

He said the U.S. military is escorting ships through the strait in a “defensive operation” aimed at restoring freedom of navigation. Rubio warned Iran against escalating tensions and said the Trump administration’s sanctions and naval pressure campaign would continue until Iran changes course.

Trump said on Truth Social on May 24 that he would not make a bad deal with Iran.

“If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by [former President Barack] Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump posted.

“Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals!”

Rubio also made several comments about Iran on May 24 that he posted on X. He said that Iran sponsors “proxy groups of terrorists that don’t care what they blow up.”

“This is an Iran that blew up a Jewish center in Argentina, innovated the use of roadside bombs that killed Americans, and organized assassinations of people who don’t agree with them,” Rubio said.

In another post on May 24, Rubio said: “Iran would rather invest in the rapists and murderers of [the Hamas terrorist group] than their own people. The BBC and these other media outlets should be covering how evil these people are in Iran and the damage they’ve done to people all over the world.”

“Iran has spent millions of dollars sponsoring terrorism all over the world, not improving the life of their people,” Rubio said in another post on X. “That’s why their people are always in the street protesting. Their economy is in shambles because the regime doesn’t invest in their economy.”

Rubio noted that Iran would never possess a nuclear weapon as long as Trump was president.

Much of the negotiations between the United States and Iran have focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost 20 percent of global seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

The U.S. conflict with Iran has significantly increased the cost of oil.

The average cost of a gallon of gas jumped from $2.98 on Feb. 26 to $3.98 on March 26.

The average cost of a gallon of gas in the United States has increased from $3.18 a year ago to $4.51 as of May 24, according to the American Automobile Association. The average cost of a gallon of gas in California reached $6.11 on May 24, the highest in the country.

The cost of crude oil triggered the increase in gas prices.

On Dec. 16, 2025, crude oil had gotten to as low as $55.44 per barrel. It has since doubled, reaching $112.25 on May 18, according to the Energy Information Administration.