Deadlock over Iran's nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz cripples peace efforts

Iranian worshippers perform their Friday prayers under the portraits of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, second left, and top military officials who were killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign, at the Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 24, 2026. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption toggle caption Vahid Salemi/AP U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled that efforts between the U.S. and Iran to end the war were deadlocked, amid growing international backlash over the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, which has interrupted the world's fuel supply and impacted living costs globally. Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Rubio said the latest proposal by Iran, first reported by Axios, was "better than what we thought they were going to submit." But he said that the U.S. administration faced "a deeply fractured" leadership in Iran, complicating efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Rubio indicated that no progress had been made on the U.S. demand for Iran to give up its nuclear ambition. "That fundamental issue still has to be confronted. That still remains the core issue here," Rubio said in the interview . "We can't let them get away with it," he said. …