Iran’s leadership has unveiled a striking new set of eight demands it says Washington must meet before the United States can achieve Donald Trump’s stated goal of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The crucial maritime chokepoint, one of the world’s most important routes for energy shipments, has remained shut for much of the period since the war on Iran began in late February.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a powerful body often compared to a politburo, said the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until the United States “corrects its behavior.” The warning came alongside fresh conditions that could complicate negotiations over any agreement to manage the waterway and restore traffic through it.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the head of Iran’s SNSC, presented the list, which includes several demands that had not previously been raised publicly.
Some of Tehran’s conditions are familiar: a permanent end to the war, the lifting of the US naval blockade and the withdrawal of American military forces.
Zolghadr also called on the United States to remove sanctions on Tehran, release frozen Iranian assets and pay reparations to Iran as part of any arrangement to reopen the strait.
According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran is further demanding that Washington stop threatening and insulting the country and halt all military operations against Iranian allies across the region.
Zolghadr, who also serves as a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard, reports directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who is now weighing a proposed deal with Oman to oversee management of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian leadership has a dramatic new list of eight demands that the United States must follow to reach Donald Trump’s goal of reopening the Strait of Hormuz
The key waterway has been closed for much of the time since the war on Iran began in late February
A 60-day period to negotiate a final deal will end in just over a week but could be extended.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Iran’s demands come on the same day the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile in the strait.
The requests also arrive as Donald Trump has attempted to quash reports that he and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth have clashed over reports the United States has hidden missile shortages.
Confronted over why the President was kept in the dark, the secretary of war reportedly turned on his own deputy, according to the Washington Post.
The showdown reportedly unfolded at Camp David last Friday, where Hegseth insisted he was blameless and accused his number two, Stephen Feinberg, of presiding over the shortfall and failing to keep the President fully briefed.
The astonishing scene laid bare Trump’s mounting frustration with Hegseth, one of the loudest early cheerleaders for striking Iran, who had assured him the operation would be a swift and relatively painless win.
Shortages of long-range guided missiles and air defense interceptors are among the reasons Trump has held back from launching further large-scale strikes against Iran in recent days.
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Should the US meet Iran’s demands to secure peace and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz?
The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr (pictured), has given the list that includes some previously unheard of requests
The requests arrive as Donald Trump has attempted to quash reports that he and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth have clashed over reports the United States has hidden missile shortages
Trump hit back at the report, denying any shortage of US munitions and insisting that interceptors are reaching American bases as needed.
‘The “leakers” of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The White House has denied the clash ever took place, however, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying: ‘This is 100% fake news. Literally never happened. And President Trump has the utmost confidence in Secretary Hegseth.’
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell joined the pushback, insisting Hegseth ‘did not mislead anyone’ about weapons stocks and never pointed the finger at Feinberg
Despite the denials, NBC News reported that Feinberg received a furious phone call from Trump himself on Friday evening, during which the President is said to have threatened to fire him.
The rattled deputy then hastily summoned top Pentagon brass to a late-night crisis meeting just hours after hanging up.
Feinberg, 66, is a billionaire who chaired Trump’s Intelligence Advisory Board in his first term before being handed the Pentagon’s number two job.
The interceptor crunch is reportedly now so severe that it is changing how the military decides which incoming threats to shoot down.
Commanders are forced to weigh where a missile is headed before committing precious defenses.
Donald Trump is demanding jail for the ‘leakers’ who exposed his furious clash with Pete Hegseth over hidden munitions shortages
Far from the quick victory Trump was promised, the Iran conflict has ground into a near six-month stalemate, with 18 American troops dead.
Tehran has responded to these attacks by raining missiles on American bases and allies across the region and strangling shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
A fragile truce brokered by Pakistan collapsed last month after Iranian attacks on tankers.
Trump declared US forces ‘locked and loaded’ for fresh strikes at the weekend, only to back down after appeals from Gulf allies, and he now claims talks with Tehran are restarting, something Iran denies.
