Iran prepares for major fighting as Hormuz talks stall
Iran is preparing for a major new round of fighting with the United States as talks stall, a Tehran source told The National on Saturday. American households feel it at the pump while Hormuz reopen sequencing stays deadlocked. Washington has sent a counterproposal; Iran has floated transferring 60% enriched uranium to a third party under IAEA rules.
Iran is preparing for a "major round of fighting" with the United States as diplomatic efforts falter, a Tehran source told The National on Saturday. The source said Tehran has the capabilities to resume major combat even as both sides signal that a military option remains on the table.
Talks in New York last month produced no breakthrough. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran would fight even if the war turned "apocalyptic." A U.S. official told The National that a third carrier strike group, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is heading into Central Command’s Middle East area. Axios separately reported that President Donald Trump’s senior national-security team met at Camp David to weigh next steps on Iran and Yemen.
The core deadlock is sequencing. Araghchi said Iran conveyed through Qatar a seven-day Hormuz plan that would reopen the strait on day six if agreed steps were met. Washington sent a counterproposal Iran has not accepted. Tehran wants concrete U.S. steps before fully reopening Hormuz; Washington wants the waterway open first. Tehran sources also say Iran offered to dilute, then transfer, its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% to a third party under IAEA-recognized mechanisms — going beyond President Masoud Pezeshkian’s public dilution talk.
Al Jazeera and other desks have described carrier and troop movements that raise the risk of a wider fight. NY Post reporting has tracked Iran’s claim that it received an official U.S. reply on ending the war, without publishing the full text.
Backstory: the conflict began Feb. 28 and is in its eighth month, with Hormuz still the hinge for global fuel prices. Engage: Centcom notices, State/Qatar readouts, and IAEA notes if any uranium-transfer mechanism is formalized.
What we know:
Diplomacy is stalled; a third U.S. carrier is moving toward the theater; Iran floated a uranium-transfer idea and a Qatar-carried Hormuz timetable; Washington’s counterproposal remains unpublished in full.
What we don’t:
Whether either side will accept the other’s sequencing; the full text of the U.S. reply; when or if major combat resumes.
Agree (full): The National, Axios, Al Jazeera, and NY Post agree talks have not produced a published deal and military preparations continue on both sides.
Differ (full): Tehran desks emphasize U.S. pressure and Iran’s readiness to fight; Washington frames force moves as leverage for nuclear and strait aims.
Where outlets agree The National, NY Post, and Al Jazeera agree U.S.–Iran diplomacy has not produced a published Hormuz deal while both sides prepare for possible renewed fighting.
Where they differ Tehran sources say Washington must move first on concrete steps; U.S. framing insists Iran reopen Hormuz before deeper concessions.