President Trump rejects Iran’s conditional cease-fire offer, WSJ reports

President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s conditional offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and told aides he expects to resume bombing the country after November’s midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it had intercepted a projectile launched by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday proposed reopening the strategic strait and resuming nuclear negotiations with the United States within seven days if the Trump administration accepts the terms.

“If certain conditions are met, at the end of the seven days, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened and talks will resume,” Araghchi told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said this week that Tehran’s conditions include an end to U.S. “acts of aggression,” an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets.

President Trump said earlier this month that he expected the war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, to end soon after the midterm elections, and for oil prices to fall thereafter.

But privately, President Trump was skeptical that Iran would comply with his demands and told his staff that he saw a repeat bombing campaign as likely, the Journal reported, citing officials.

CNBC could not immediately confirm this report.

The newspaper cited US officials as saying the US and Iran continue to negotiate through a mediator, including on US demands aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Direct fighting between U.S. and Iranian forces has decreased significantly in recent weeks, but Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks on neighboring Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally.

The Saudi-backed coalition supporting Yemen’s legitimacy “intercepted and destroyed” two drones fired by the Houthi militia toward the Saudi capital Riyadh and two ballistic missiles aimed at the Khamis Mushait region near the city of Abha in the southwest of the country, the coalition’s official spokesperson, Col. Turki al-Maliki, said in a series of posts on X.

The Houthis announced last Saturday that they had attacked “sensitive” positions in Riyadh, shortly after flames and smoke were seen near the city’s main airport. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia said its air defense forces had destroyed a Houthi drone heading for the holy city of Mecca, a claim the group denied.

The war has severely restricted energy transport from the Middle East, causing oil prices to soar and raising concerns about accelerating global inflation.

However, oil prices recorded a sharp drop this week as Iran and the US held talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

West Texas Intermediate fell 2.3% to close at $92.41 per barrel. Brent, the international benchmark, fell 2.1% to settle at $104.32. U.S. crude oil ended the week 7.9% lower, while Brent crude oil was flat.

WTI is up nearly 61% year-to-date, while Brent crude is up more than 71% over the same period.