President Donald Trump says the United States is dialing down its posture toward Iran, signaling a shift to a more restrained strategy in the ongoing conflict.
Rather than emphasizing additional military strikes, Trump indicated his administration is leaning more heavily on economic pressure as it seeks to weaken Tehran’s position.
“We are low-keying it. We are only semi-negotiating with them,” Trump told Axios on Sunday. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”
The president argued that Iran is in “very bad shape,” claiming the government is struggling financially and lacks the funds to pay its troops. He said that pressure is being intensified by a U.S. naval blockade.
“It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game,” Trump added, framing the standoff as a long-term contest of leverage.
His comments came one day after details surfaced about a possible arrangement between Iran and Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz.
That Oman-backed agreement had been regarded as close to finalized before Tehran submitted a new set of demands on Saturday. Under the proposal, Iran would have received partial control over traffic through the strategic waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial corridor for global energy shipments, has been shut for much of the period since the war on Iran began in late February.
President Donald Trump has revealed that the US is pivoting to a more ‘low-key’ approach in the conflict with Iran
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attending a press conference in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday. Iran issued a list of demands to the US that same day as both sides seek a deal over the Strait of Hormuz
On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the strait will not reopen until the US ‘corrects its behavior.’
Tehran suggested that vessels linked to ‘hostile countries’ would be barred.
It demanded that the US never threaten Iran again, a permanent end to the war with Iran and its armed allies, a lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports and a withdrawal of American military from the area.
The US also must ‘completely compensate’ Iran for war damage, lift sanctions and ‘unconditionally’ release frozen assets.
Trump did not respond to the demands and his comments on Sunday appeared to be confirmed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said there are no ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
A 60-day period to negotiate a final deal will end in just over a week but could be extended.
It comes as Israel rejected a deal Trump announced for Gaza last month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the deal, saying Israel´s military ‘will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed.’
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked the government-held port city of Mocha late Sunday night. It was the second attack on the Red Sea coast city in less than 24 hours
The Oman agreement, which was viewed as a done deal until Tehran issued a list of demands on Saturday, would have given Iran partial control of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Ships are shown anchored in the strait off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Wednesday
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian (center, back) attending a press conference in the capital Tehran, on Saturday
Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting that ‘Israel rejects the 15-point document’ but is still discussing plans for Gaza with Washington, after making similar comments last week.
Trump had said Israeli forces would withdraw as the Hamas militant group’s disarmament is completed.
Israeli forces control over half the Palestinian enclave of about two million people that has been largely destroyed.
‘We remain committed to the road map,’ Bassem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said.
He added that the group expects mediators and the US to pressure Netanyahu, who also faces domestic tensions as he struggles to hold onto power ahead of the next elections scheduled for October 27.
Meanwhile, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked the government-held port city of Mocha late Sunday night. It was the second attack on the Red Sea coast city in less than 24 hours.
A military source told the Houthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV that the attack targeted weapons depots and Saudi troop concentrations.
A statement from the Yemeni Armed Forces posted on X said residential neighborhoods were targeted by ballistic missiles and drones in the attack, and that air defense systems managed to intercept some of the drones.
A Lebanese army bulldozer removes the rubble following Israeli military operations in the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah on August 8, 2026. Israel refused in talks on August 6, to withdraw from more areas of south Lebanon unless the Lebanese army had full control of an initial two ‘pilot zones’
A Lebanese army soldier inspects destruction of a home by the Israeli military in the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah on August 8, 2026
The Yemeni government-allied National Resistance Forces said at least seven people, four troops and three civilians, were killed and 15 civilians were injured in that strike.
Fayed al-Noman, the information ministry’s assistant undersecretary, said the attack severely damaged port buildings and piers as well as commercial goods and food supplies. The military later said missiles landed in several areas, including near a television station.
Mocha is a main port under Yemen’s internationally recognized government and has been renovated to handle shipping that avoids the Houthi-held port of Hodeida.
The Houthis said they targeted military forces and warehouses.
