Trump returns from China with little progress to reopen Hormuz

China's President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Donald Trump (L) during a visit to Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15, 2026. Photo by EVAN VUCCI /POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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Iran said transit through the Strait of Hormuz will normalize once security conditions are restored, after U.S. President Donald Trump returned from a visit to China with an agreed desire to reopen the critical maritime route but little in the way of a path to achieving it.

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Iran has shown little interest in loosening its hold on the waterway, insisting it wants to maintain a degree of control even after the end of the war. Iran’s threats on ships in the Persian Gulf have brought exports from the oil-rich region to a near-standstill, sending energy prices soaring and giving Tehran significant leverage in talks with the U.S.

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“Naturally, once the current state of insecurity is resolved, navigation conditions in the Strait of Hormuz will return to normal,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was cited as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

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Iran will implement effective and professional monitoring and control mechanisms in the Strait of Hormuz within the framework of international law, Pezeshkian said without elaborating. He added Iran remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday that the strait should be opened to shipping as soon as possible, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency. In response to Iran’s disruption of shipping movements, the U.S. imposed a blockade on the Islamic Republic’s oil exports, in an effort to sever its economic lifeline and persuade its officials to agree to US terms for a peace deal.

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The statement from China came as the world’s two largest economies sought to emphasize points of agreement on the Middle East conflict during Trump’s meetings with President Xi Jinping this week — even as they’re essentially on opposite sides, with China repeatedly criticizing the US-Israeli attack on its Iranian ally.

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On his way back from China, Trump also told reporters he spoke with Xi about potentially lifting sanctions on Chinese oil companies that buy Iranian crude. The Treasury Department has escalated those penalties in recent weeks as the U.S. tries to pressure Tehran on talks. Beijing ordered its companies to ignore the sanctions.

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“I’m going to make a decision over the next few days,” Trump said aboard Air Force One when asked if he’d consider lifting the sanctions. “We did talk about that.”

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Trump said that three Chinese tankers that went through the Strait of Hormuz loaded with Iranian oil this week did so because the U.S. allowed it, in an interview with Fox News. Iranian state TV had previously said over 30 ships were allowed passage through the strait since Wednesday night, citing an official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy.

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The White House faces a conundrum: How to reopen the strait, lower global energy prices and wind down an increasingly unpopular conflict that has caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history ahead of midterm elections in November.