Trump Hoards the Iran File as Tehran Tests U.S. Resolve
Trump is using secrecy to keep leverage over Iran talks as Tehran revises its offer on Hormuz, nuclear sequencing, and the next ceasefire deadline.
Trump is concentrating the Iran file in his own hands. He told CNN that only he and “a couple of other people” know the status of the talks, while sources said a revised Iranian peace proposal could arrive Friday 
CNN live updates. That matters less as personality than as bargaining method: by shrinking the circle, Trump preserves maximum freedom to cancel envoys, change terms, or claim momentum without empowering a negotiating bureaucracy.
Trump’s leverage is opacity
The White House has already shown it will use access as pressure. AP reported that Trump said he canceled a planned U.S. team trip to Islamabad, then claimed Iran presented new offers 10 minutes later 
AP News. In a separate report, AP said Trump preferred a phone call over sending officials if there was no clear movement, even as Pakistani mediation continued and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi moved through Islamabad and on to Moscow AP News.
Trump benefits from this setup because it keeps every actor — Tehran, Pakistan, and his own team — dependent on presidential signaling. Pakistan benefits too: the more personal and improvised the channel becomes, the more valuable the intermediary is. For readers tracking the domestic angle, this is also now squarely a 
US Politics story, not just a regional crisis.
Iran is trying to change the agenda
Tehran’s aim appears clear: move the talks away from an immediate nuclear concession and toward a narrower de-escalation bargain centered on shipping and war termination. Reuters reported in April that Iran proposed allowing ships to exit safely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz, effectively testing whether Washington would trade maritime normalization for broader relief 
Reuters. BBC reported this week that Iran has said it has “no plans” for the next round in Islamabad, while Trump said he was not under pressure to make a deal before a Wednesday ceasefire deadline 
BBC News.
That puts Iran in a weaker but still disruptive position. It cannot force U.S. acceptance, but it can raise the cost of delay through Hormuz uncertainty. Shippers, Gulf producers, and U.S. allies lose from that ambiguity first.
Reuters also reported that Iranian negotiators sought a Pakistani military escort home from earlier talks, citing fears of a possible Israeli attack — a reminder that even the diplomatic track is operating under live military risk Reuters. This is the highest-level U.S.-Iran engagement since 1979, according to the same report Reuters.
What to watch next
Watch three things. First, whether Iran’s revised proposal explicitly links Hormuz access to postponing nuclear talks Reuters. Second, whether Trump restores a formal envoy channel or keeps the process personal and opaque AP News. Third, the Wednesday ceasefire deadline cited by BBC: if there is no visible extension or framework by then, the market will assume coercion has overtaken diplomacy again BBC News.
For broader context, this is now a test of whether the United States can convert presidential improvisation into an enforceable regional bargain — or whether secrecy itself has become the strategy.
