Donald Trump said on Tuesday that there are no talks or conversations now or scheduled in the future with Iran, while saying the U.S. Naval blockade remains in “full force and effect.” The statement lands as Iran losing control of the Strait of Hormuz has become the sharpest point in the exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran.
Trump also posted that the Strait of Hormuz was “open and operating” and that “all water mines have been removed or detonated.” Those remarks came after Air defenses detected two Iranian missiles fired toward the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, with both missiles falling into the water off the coast of the UAE in its territorial waters.
Trump and Iran talks
Trump’s statement drew a harder line around the diplomatic track. On Monday, Jared Kushner said Iran was “not showing any interest” in making a deal that makes sense for the U.S., even as he said the conversations between the US government and different areas of the Iranian government are “more robust than it's maybe ever been.”
That split matters because it leaves two different readings of the same moment: Trump says there are no talks, while Kushner describes a broader set of conversations still moving behind the scenes. For readers in Dubai and across the UAE, the practical effect is that the political channel is not settled enough to reduce the military risk around the waterway.
Strait of Hormuz strikes
The Strait of Hormuz has been the primary flashpoint in the exchange of strikes, and the last week added another layer. Iranian projectiles targeted UAE ships in the Strait of Hormuz last week, and this appears to be the first time Iran has fired missiles directly at the UAE in several months.
On Tuesday, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority of the UAE told residents in Dubai to remain in a safe location and follow warnings and updates issued through official channels after air defense systems detected a missile threat targeting the county. The warning was brief, but it showed how quickly the strike exchange can reach civilians on the coast.
U.S. and Iran timeline
The sequence now runs from Trump’s announcement of major combat operations against Iran on Feb. 28, to June negotiations aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries, to the latest missile detections and Trump’s Tuesday declaration that the blockade remains in force. Tehran previously denied that talks were occurring after an Axios report about Iraqi Kurdish officials helping mediate discussions between the U.S. and IRGC.
The immediate question is not whether the waterway has reopened — Trump said it was already “open and operating” — but whether either side will put a concrete proposal on the table that changes the blockade, the strikes, or the next round of missile alerts over the UAE.
