Trump says Iran dying for deal as Treasury seeks to cut Tehran’s war financing

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Iran must open the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions.

“Iran must enter serious negotiations with the United States, stop threatening its neighbors and open the Strait of Hormuz without restrictions,” Merz said in a post on X.

He also condemned renewed Iranian airstrikes against the United Arab Emirates and other countries, saying attacks on nuclear facilities threatened people across the region.

“There must be no further escalation of violence,” Merz said.

The short documentary “Art of Resistance,” produced by Volant Media and directed by Iran International correspondent Mehran Abbassian, won two awards at the Swedish Cinema House Film Festival.

The film received the Best Short Documentary award, while Abbassian won Best Director.

Iran’s internet blackout reached its 80th day on Monday and passed 1,896 hours, internet monitor NetBlocks said as content in favor of the Islamic Republic spread widely across social media.

“Pro-regime content floods social media, as Iranians seeking to get pro/whitelist access say they are being asked to meet a quota of daily propaganda posts, policed by AI," it said in a post on X.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Tehran should pursue dialogue “with dignity,” rejecting slogans against negotiations with the US.

“If you do not talk, do you want to fight forever?” Pezeshkian said at a gathering of government public relations officials.

Pezeshkian also called for honest messaging to the public, saying it was wrong to claim that the enemy was collapsing while Iran was flourishing.

“They have problems, and we have problems too,” he said.

He warned that Iran’s high energy consumption could create problems in summer and winter, saying the country produced 100 million liters of gasoline a day while needing 150 million liters.

“Some people stand up and ask why we have inflation. It starts with these voices,” Pezeshkian said. “We are fighting, and we must accept its hardship.”

He said Iran had to work for its goals and could not have everything at once.

The Iranian president also said he had not known where he was heading when he took office, adding: “They suddenly brought me here.”

US President Donald Trump said Iran was eager to reach a deal but accused Tehran of shifting the terms after agreements were discussed, according to an interview with Fortune.

“They scream all the time,” Trump said. “I can tell you one thing—they’re dying to sign [a deal]. But they make a deal, and then they send you a paper that has no relationship to the deal you made. I say, ‘Are you people crazy?’ ”

He also said economic figures, including interest rates, could not be fully assessed until the conflict ended, saying: “You can’t really look at the figures until the war is over.”

Iran said on Monday that if war broke out, its armed forces would have “new surprises for the enemy.”

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran knows well how to respond to its adversaries and added that the United States had learned that threats and economic pressure could not “dissuade Iran from pursuing its rights.”

Pakistan shared a revised Iranian proposal with the United States on Sunday night to end the war, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a Pakistani source.

Iran said on Monday it was in continuous contact with Oman to develop a new mechanism for vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, calling the waterway vital to the world.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran and Oman, as coastal states, had a responsibility to reassure other countries about safe passage through the strait.

He said expert-level talks between Iran and Oman were held last week in Muscat and consultations were continuing without interruption.

Baghaei also said Iran had no hostility toward any country in the region, “even the UAE,” while warning neighbors to guard against what it called plots by powers outside the region.

Tehran was calling on all regional countries to be vigilant about such efforts, he said, adding that visits and contacts with Israel were not hidden from Iran’s view.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday he would call on G7 finance ministers to follow a sanctions regime aimed at cutting off financing to what he described as Iran’s “war machine.”

G7 finance ministers met in Paris on Monday to seek common ground on economic tensions and global imbalances, as markets faced renewed pressure from a bond selloff driven in part by inflation concerns tied to the Iran war and higher energy prices.

Bessent also said last week’s trip to China by a US delegation led by US President Donald Trump had been “very successful.”