Masoud Pezeshkian Invokes Khorramshahr Recapture as Trump Warns Iran Deal Or Walk Away

On May 24, President Masoud Pezeshkian invoked a wartime symbol in an X post marking the anniversary of the 1982 recapture of Khorramshahr from Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War, saying, "Khorramshahr today is Iran, the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Hormuz," and adding that "resistance, self-sacrifice, and repelling aggression are rooted in the culture of this land."

Fox News Digital quoted Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative Program on Extremism at George Washington University, saying, "This is the Iran-Iraq War reference, and the timing is the point."

Al Jazeera

The same Fox News report described Trump’s parallel diplomacy, saying President Donald Trump said a deal with Tehran to end the war is "largely negotiated" and warned the U.S. would either sign "a great and meaningful" agreement or walk away entirely.

In the Reuters-linked market framing from GoldSilver, Iran-related headlines were described as moving gold in opposite directions on two different days, with Gold dropping half a percent on "Iran peace optimism today."

As U.S. and Iranian officials traded cautious signals, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Delhi, "We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today."

NBC News reported Iran warned Monday that an agreement to end the war launched by the United States and Israel was not imminent, while Rubio said a deal was still possible Monday and cautioned that if talks fail, Washington would find "another way" to resolve the situation.

Al Jazeera

The Center Square quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai saying, "But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent–no one can make such a claim."

CBS News said a senior Trump administration official told it the U.S. and Iran were working toward a finalized agreement and that President Trump said on TruthSocial that negotiations were ongoing and that he had told representatives "not to rush into a deal" and "that time is on our side."

Multiple outlets tied the negotiation stakes to the Strait of Hormuz, with NBC News saying the agreement in the works would get the Strait of Hormuz "de-mined and back open for business" and would gradually lift its naval blockade only once Tehran followed through.

Al Jazeera reported that Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. blockade on Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz would "remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed" while the war entered its 87th day on Monday.

Al Jazeera also said a senior Trump administration official outlined an "in principle" exchange in which Iran agreed "in principle" to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its naval blockade, and to dispose of Tehran’s highly enriched uranium.

In the same Al Jazeera report, the outlet said the two sides remained at odds on difficult issues including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israel’s war in Lebanon, and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran and the release of its frozen foreign assets worth billions of dollars.