Hormuz traffic remains subdued despite diplomatic push

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that Iran had requested talks with the backing of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

He said negotiations would proceed in two phases, beginning with reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which he said would be "completely open" by Tuesday, before turning to Iran's nuclear program.

Trump described the talks as Tehran's "last chance" to reach an agreement, saying he wanted to give Iran "every last chance before decapitation."

But Tehran rejected the announcement outright, with Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei saying there were no talks and no plans to receive a US delegation or send Iranian representatives to negotiations in the coming days.

Baghaei said Iran's only confirmed discussions were with Oman over a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. Reaching an understanding with Muscat over the proposed corridor would not by itself amount to reopening the strait, he added.

‘Deal or surrender’

Later Monday, Trump took to Truth Social to accuse Iran's leadership of duplicity but said more talks were scheduled in the "immediate future."

He added that the US naval blockade would remain in place until "a deal or total surrender is accomplished."

A senior Iranian source also told Reuters that no negotiations were planned and that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was visiting Iraq, would be unavailable until at least the end of the week.

CBS News separately cited US officials as saying no new formal negotiations had been scheduled despite Trump's public comments.

The officials said existing indirect contacts were continuing through intermediaries, involving US envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and other members of the American negotiating team on one side and Iranian representatives on the other.

The conflicting accounts left unclear whether Trump was referring to formal negotiations, indirect exchanges through mediators or efforts to arrange future talks.

Mediators keep channels open

Diplomatic activity nevertheless intensified across the region on Monday.

Araghchi held separate calls with his Omani, Saudi, Pakistani and Iraqi counterparts and also spoke with Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, about regional developments and diplomatic efforts.

Pakistan invited Araghchi to visit Islamabad, while reports said Tehran's chief negotiators could be asked to take part in discussions there.

Islamabad and Doha have both been mentioned as possible venues for indirect talks, though no date or location has been confirmed.

Switzerland, which represents US interests in Iran, said it remained in contact with both sides and was prepared to assist if requested. An Iraqi politician also claimed Baghdad was carrying messages between Tehran and Washington.

Trump identified Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar as supporters of the talks, though he did not explain whether they were directly mediating or had encouraged Iran to engage.

Military pressure remains

The diplomatic push is unfolding under continuing US military and economic pressure.

Trump said the US Navy had complete control over the Strait of Hormuz and that "nothing would reach Iran" unless Washington permitted it. US Central Command said Monday it had redirected 44 commercial vessels, disabled two vessels and boarded two others while enforcing the blockade.

The strait remains the most immediate point of contention. Washington wants unrestricted passage through the waterway, while Tehran insists it retains authority over shipping and says US military action and the blockade must end before conditions can significantly change.

Oil prices fell sharply after Trump suspended the planned strikes, raising expectations of a possible agreement. Brent crude dropped nearly 7% on Monday.

Maritime risks nevertheless persisted. The UK Maritime Trade Operations said a vessel reported an explosion in the water nearby off Oman, although the ship and crew were safe.

Whether Trump's timetable reflects active negotiations, indirect contacts or diplomatic optimism remains unclear. Tehran has so far confirmed neither broader talks with Washington nor any agreement.

Shahrzad Zamiri, 51, remains detained without trial in Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison, HRANA reported on Monday.

Informed sources told Iran International that Zamiri was summoned to report to Iran's police force several days after the protests before being detained. They said the accusations stem from her presence at the protests and alleged assistance to protesters.

Zamiri served as deputy for social affairs at the cyber police, known as FATA, in Khorasan Razavi province.

According to the sources, she spent about two months in solitary confinement after her arrest, during which she was denied telephone calls and family visits.

The sources added that Zamiri has been interrogated but has not been granted access to a lawyer. Her case remains at the investigative stage, with no trial held or verdict issued.

HRANA reported that an investigative hearing was held on Monday at the military prosecutor's office in Mashhad.

The agency said Zamiri faces five charges but identified only two of them: "disclosure of state secrets" and "operational action." Authorities have not disclosed the factual basis for the allegations.

Iran International's sources said authorities have also confiscated Zamiri's property. Her telephone contact and family visits, suspended since late May, have now resumed, according to HRANA, citing a source close to her family.

Cases involving the detention of serving or former members of Iran's police or armed forces rarely become public. Previous reports have, however, pointed to isolated instances of dissent or resistance among security personnel involved in suppressing protesters.

Iranian authorities have not released a comprehensive figure for the number of people detained following the January protests.

In recent months, the judiciary has intensified its crackdown through widespread summonses and arrests, lengthy prison sentences and a sharp rise in executions involving political and protest-related cases.

Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi, a senior cleric whose sister is married to Khamenei’s brother, claimed Pezeshkian had threatened to resign “28 times” but stopped after being warned that his next resignation would be accepted.

“If he resigns one more time, I will approve it. I will write ‘approved’ underneath it, and that will be the end of it,” Kharrazi quoted Khamenei as saying.

“Pezeshkian no longer dares,” he said. “They all backed down.”

Iran International reported on May 31, 2026, that Pezeshkian had submitted an official resignation letter to Khamenei’s office, saying his government had been excluded from major decisions and hardline Revolutionary Guards factions had taken control of state affairs.

A source familiar with the letter said at the time Pezeshkian argued that he could no longer fulfill his constitutional responsibilities and requested to leave office immediately.

However, Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications and information at Pezeshkian’s office, dismissed Kharrazi’s resignation allegation as “baseless and an outright lie.”

“A sinister alliance of deceitful agitators and proponents of extremism and incompetence has targeted sacred unity and national cohesion,” Tabatabaei wrote on X.

“Two years after their defeat at the ballot box, they are still seeking revenge against the will of the people,” he added. “They have become puppets of Iran’s enemies. It is deplorable.”

Ali-Asghar Shafieian, an adviser to the Pezeshkian administration, also rejected Kharrazi’s account, saying the cleric had neither met Khamenei nor maintained any contact with him.

“Mr. Kh has neither seen the Leader nor has any connection with him, and he is known for strange stories,” Shafieian wrote. “Do not manufacture rumors or indulge in fantasies.”

Shafieian suggested the remarks reflected anger in the faction associated with the sole dissenting vote in the Supreme National Security Council over the Iran-US memorandum of understanding.

He said the faction was unhappy about the agreement’s signing, Khamenei’s trust in Pezeshkian, the decision now being implemented and praise of the president by both the late Ali Khamenei and the current Supreme Leader.

Reformist political activist Ahmad Zeidabadi separately described Kharrazi’s remarks as a “tension-provoking claim,” saying they served no purpose other than inflaming tensions during an already difficult period.

Zeidabadi cited Kharrazi’s previous threats against political critics during the reform era and urged state institutions to clarify the matter before the widespread circulation of his remarks created a new political controversy.

Khamenei to replace security chief

Kharrazi also claimed Khamenei planned to remove Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and replace him with Mohsen Rezaei, the Supreme Leader’s military adviser.

“They are going to replace Mr. Zolghadr, and Mr. Mohsen Rezaei will take his place,” he said.

Kharrazi further claimed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had been told that he had “no right to interfere in the negotiations under any circumstances,” accusing him of repeatedly threatening to withdraw from the diplomatic process.

Zolghadr, a former deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, was appointed secretary of the security council on March 24, 2026, replacing Ali Larijani after his death during the war. The appointment was approved by Khamenei and formally issued by Pezeshkian.

Iran International reported on March 25 that senior IRGC commanders had pressured Pezeshkian to appoint Zolghadr despite opposition from the president and other officials.

Rezaei, a former IRGC commander-in-chief and repeated presidential candidate, was appointed Khamenei’s military adviser on March 16.

The claims come amid a continuing struggle between Pezeshkian’s allies and hardliners over responsibility for the Iran-US memorandum of understanding, which was signed by the Iranian and American presidents on June 17.

Pezeshkian said an overwhelming majority of security council members had approved the text, while hardliners argued that the agreement crossed Khamenei’s red lines.

Shortly after the MoU was signed, lawmaker Mohammad-Manan Raisi said Khamenei had taken the unusual step of requiring the support of at least 75% of council members before approving the agreement. He said all but one member voted in favor.

The dispute intensified after Vice President Mohammad-Jafar Ghaempanah said Khamenei had instructed officials to approve the MoU if it secured the three-quarters majority. Ghaempanah said Khamenei subsequently authorized the agreement while warning officials not to retreat in the face of excessive US demands.

His remarks prompted hardliners to accuse the Pezeshkian administration of portraying the Supreme Leader’s position as subordinate to a council vote.

In late July, the governor of Iran's central bank, Abdolnaser Hemmati, announced a victory: monthly inflation, he said, had been nearly halved in a single month — from 7.4 percent in the month ending June 21 to 3.6 percent in the month ending July 22 — thanks to “measures and tools at the bank’s disposal.” He did not name a single tool.

Numbers like these need translation. Monthly inflation is a standard statistic everywhere, but in Iran it is the number people live by: when prices move this fast, the month-to-month change is what a household actually feels at the store.

By the central bank’s own report, prices are now about 84 percent higher than a year ago. Even the “victory” month is nothing to celebrate: 3.6 percent, repeated for 12 months, compounds to an annual rate above 50 percent.

What the announcement omitted is that for almost exactly that statistical month, Iranians could not use their banks.

On June 13, electronic services failed at four major state banks. The state-linked company that runs their infrastructure claimed a cyberattack and said it had taken backup systems offline as a precaution, while official promises of a fix kept slipping.

On June 23, a second wave hit eight banks. Card readers went dead and banking apps would not load in a country where everyday life runs on debit cards, leaving millions of people unable to reach their own money for weeks.

Bank Melli, one of Iran’s largest banks, later waived late-payment penalties for a precisely defined window: June 13 to July 14. That amounted to a full month of disruption, by the bank’s own admission.

The same month piled on more. The state semi-shut the country for about a week in early July for Ali Khamenei’s funeral ceremonies. In the second week of July, fighting with the United States resumed and the naval blockade of Iran’s ports returned.

Extreme heat and a failing power grid then closed offices and banks in several provinces in the final week. In a month like that, a great many purchases simply never happened — not because prices had calmed, but because buying was impossible. A purchase that cannot happen puts no pressure on prices.

The central bank’s own report records the tell. Food inflation — groceries, the most card-dependent of all purchases — collapsed from 8.7 percent to 1.8 percent.

The dials the governor did not mention moved the other way: prices versus a year earlier accelerated, and the 12-month average rose from 57.7 to 61.4 percent.

Street prices told the same story. The announced consumer price of a carton of eggs rose about 20 percent between late May and mid-July, roughly double the official inflation rate for the same stretch.

Halving an inflation rate ordinarily requires tight money sustained over a long period. In Iran’s case, no tightening of any kind occurred: deposit rates did not move until late July, liquidity kept growing rapidly, and there was no sign of fiscal restraint.

A central bank that possessed a painless one-month cure would also need to explain why it kept that cure in the drawer while annual inflation has averaged above 40 percent over the past five years.

There is an old warning in economics, associated with the British economist Charles Goodhart, that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Iran’s monthly inflation rate has now completed that journey.

In July, it stopped measuring price pressure in the Iranian economy and began measuring something else: the downtime of the country’s payment system.

A government can manage inflation, or it can manage the inflation statistic. Only one of these shows up at the grocery store.

The report described the trend as the emergence of a "survival economy," in which even the smallest household possessions have become tradable assets as families struggle with soaring inflation and shrinking purchasing power.

Online classified advertisements, according to ILNA, increasingly feature offers to sell used work shoes and clothing, empty perfume bottles and natural hair for extensions, alongside listings advertising the rental of property deeds, salary slips and other financial guarantees.

From laptops to perfume bottles

The agency also highlighted growing demand for laptop rentals, with users seeking temporary access to devices for basic tasks such as typing documents, using Microsoft Office software or attending online classes.

"What may initially appear strange or even humorous actually reflects declining purchasing power, changing consumption patterns and households' efforts to generate cash," ILNA wrote.

The shift, The report said, illustrates how ownership is increasingly giving way to renting, while everyday items are being used until the very end of their economic value.

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The findings come as inflation continues to weigh on Iranian households. According to the Statistical Center of Iran, annual inflation reached 66% in the Iranian month ending in late July, while year-on-year inflation stood at 87.9%.

A 'survival economy'

The growing number of advertisements, the report said, reflects a broader transformation in household finances, where assets once considered worthless or purely personal are increasingly being converted into immediate sources of income.

The agency said many sellers now bundle together low-value household items to improve their chances of making a sale, while advertisements offering natural hair have also become more common, with prices ranging from negotiable sums to several million rials depending on length, color and quality.

The report follows other recent signs of mounting financial pressure, including the spread of installment payments for healthcare and pharmaceuticals, as many Iranian families struggle to cover everyday expenses.

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The expansion of the market for second-hand goods, rentals and personal assets, ILNA said, reflects a growing effort by households to generate cash in an economy where almost anything can become a source of income.