US President Donald Trump says Iran wants the US to open the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible” while they “try to figure out their leadership situation”.

Posting to Truth Social on Wednesday (AEST), Trump claimed that Iran had informed the US that it was in a “State of Collapse”.

It was not clear from Trump’s social ‌media post ‌how ⁠Iran had communicated that message and there was no ​immediate comment from Iran.

The US and Iran remain locked in a deadlock over the shipping strait, with the US maintaining its blockade.

However, the recent passage of a Russian superyacht has made headlines after it cruised through the Strait of Hormuz despite the US blockade — one of the few private vessels to have done so in recent months.

Reuters reported that neither Iran nor the United States objected to its passage, according to a source. The strait has been restricted since February.

The Nord has its own helipad and helicopter. Photo: SuperYacht Times

The 141-metre Nord, estimated to be worth $US500 million, was among the largest super yachts in the world in 2025. It has a pool, submarine, helipad and helicopter.

Able to carry 31 guests and 42 staff, it is linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov, who has ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, says the BBC.

The yacht travelled from Dubai to Muscat in Oman last weekend, but it was not known if or how it gained permission.

Mordashov, who owns Russia’s largest steel and mining company, Severstal, has been sanctioned by Britain, the US and European Union since the Ukraine war broke out in 2022.

Before the Iran war, between 125 and 140 ships usually ​crossed in and out of the Strait of Hormuz daily.

But only seven had done ‌so in the past day, according to Kpler ship-tracking data and satellite analysis from SynMax. None were carrying oil bound for the global market.

At least six tankers loaded with Iranian oil ​have been forced back to ‌Iran by the US blockade in recent days, underscoring the war’s impact on traffic.

Iran’s foreign ministry condemned US action against Iran-linked tankers as “outright legalisation of piracy and armed ​robbery on the high seas”.

However, Iran government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tehran had prepared for maritime blockade scenarios as early as the US 2024 presidential election and made necessary arrangements so that “there is nothing to worry about”.

She said Tehran was using northern, eastern and western trade corridors that did not ​rely ​on Gulf ports to neutralise the blockade’s effects.

With his approval ratings falling, Trump faces domestic pressure to end a war for which he has given the US public shifting rationales.

Trump is ‌unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal on resolving the two-month war, a US official told Reuters, dampening hopes for a resolution of the conflict ​that has disrupted energy supplies, fuelled inflation ​and killed ⁠thousands of people.

Meanwhile, Gulf leaders met in person in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first time since their counties became a front in the Iran war.

A Gulf official said the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks they ‌faced since the US and Israel launched the war on ⁠Iran on February 28.

Attacks have subsided since a ceasefire on April 8 although Gulf capitals remain wary of resumed conflict.

Iran’s previous nuclear deal with the US and other powers in 2015 sharply curtailed its nuclear program, which it has long maintained is for peaceful civilian purposes.

That deal fell apart when Trump unilaterally withdrew the US in his first term in office.

Hopes of reviving peace efforts have receded since Trump last weekend scrapped a visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner to mediator Pakistan.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi shuttled in and out of Islamabad twice during the weekend.

He also visited Oman and on Monday went to Russia, where he met Putin.

-with AAP