President Donald Trump has decided to maintain the diplomatic track with Iran after examining options for a return to large-scale military operations, according to US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal. In discussions with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, the president considered proposals described by some participants as “finishing the job,” but concluded that a new round of full-scale attacks would risk derailing efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump has told aides he is willing to let indirect negotiations in Qatar continue beyond the 18 August deadline for a nuclear agreement, while authorising limited single strikes in response to any Iranian breach of the existing memorandum of understanding.

Viewed from Washington, the administration maintains that military options remain on the table should diplomacy fail. Vice President JD Vance stated that the US retains “a lot of optionality,” while Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted that Iran “has not been cooperative at all” and that American naval escort operations are the sole reason global oil supply has recovered. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Doha for a fresh round of talks conducted through Qatari mediators, but no direct meeting with Iranian representatives took place. A White House official confirmed that a deconfliction channel between US Central Command and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is open and already in use.

In Tehran’s account, the priority is implementation of the existing memorandum rather than new negotiations. Iranian officials stated they would not meet American envoys directly and insisted that the terms of the two-week-old ceasefire must be fully resolved before addressing more contentious issues, including restrictions on the nuclear programme. A central sticking point remains Iran’s demand to impose service fees on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a proposal Washington rejects on the grounds that the waterway must remain free for navigation. Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stressed that no new talks would begin before the conditions set out in the memorandum are fulfilled, while foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied any plans for direct encounters with the US side.

Regional mediators are working to prevent the diplomatic standstill from triggering a broader escalation. Oman has presented a proposal on the future of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Joint Maritime Information Centre raised the threat level to “substantial” because of mine-related risks. The indirect talks in Doha are expected to continue with technical experts from both sides, though the fundamental disagreements over Hormuz fees and the scope of nuclear constraints remain unresolved. The 60-day negotiation window set in the mid-June memorandum is now likely to be extended, with Trump indicating he sees no problem in talks stretching past the original deadline.