Trump says no Iran deal is imminent and the Hormuz naval blockade stays in place, as both sides remain split on nuclear disposal, sanctions relief and frozen Iranian funds. Summary:Trump posted on Truth Social that the Hormuz blockade would remain in force until a deal is certified and signed, walking back optimism from his own comments the previous dayA senior administration official said Iran had agreed in principle to open the strait and dispose of its highly enriched uranium, in exchange for the US lifting its naval blockadeKey practical questions remain unresolved, including the mechanism for uranium disposal, which the official framed as a matter of "how" rather than "whether"Tasnim news agency, linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said the US was obstructing a deal by refusing to release frozen Iranian fundsIran's Revolutionary Guards reported 33 vessel transits through the strait in the preceding 24 hours, against a pre-war daily average of around 140The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company chief said full flows through Hormuz would not return before the first or second quarter of 2027 even if the war ends nowDonald Trump moved to cool expectations of an imminent Iran deal on Sunday, saying he had told his negotiators not to rush and confirming that the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain in place until any agreement is formally certified and signed.The statement on Truth Social reversed a more optimistic tone Trump had struck just 24 hours earlier, when he said the two sides had largely negotiated a memorandum of understanding that would reopen the strait. The weekend's back-and-forth underlined how fragile the diplomatic process remains, nearly three months into a conflict that has cut one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints to a fraction of its pre-war capacity.A senior US administration official, speaking without attribution, offered the clearest public account yet of where talks stand. Iran has agreed in principle to open Hormuz and to dispose of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in exchange for the lifting of the naval blockade, he said. The official added that Washington understood Iran's Supreme Leader had endorsed the broad template. However, he was careful to stress that the detail of nuclear disposal remained unresolved, describing the outstanding questions as practical rather than fundamental.Iran's side offered a more sceptical reading. Tasnim news agency, which carries messaging aligned with the Revolutionary Guards, said the US was blocking progress by refusing to release tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks. Tehran also continues to assert a legal right to manage transit through the strait, a position that sits uneasily alongside any agreement granting free passage to all commercial shipping.On the ground, throughput remains severely restricted. The Revolutionary Guards reported 33 vessel transits in the 24 hours through Sunday, compared with around 140 on a typical pre-war day. The gap matters not only for oil markets but for liquefied natural gas, fertilizer and food supply chains that depend on the route.The human cost of the conflict, which the US and Israel initiated in late February before a ceasefire took hold in early April, continues to weigh on the diplomatic backdrop. Thousands have been killed in Iran, and Israeli operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah have displaced hundreds of thousands more. Even the most optimistic scenario now places full Hormuz normalisation well into 2027. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.