Why do US and Iran fail to agree on armistice goals?

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The United States and Iran fail to agree on armistice goals because each side wants a different outcome from any pause in fighting.

Washington treats a pause as a way to restore freedom of navigation, stop attacks on commercial vessels, restrain Iran’s nuclear programme and reduce threats to American forces and Gulf partners. Iran treats the Strait of Hormuz as one of its few remaining tools of leverage and wants any pause to reflect the costs of excluding, sanctioning or attacking it.
Washington wants a pause that changes security conditions in the strait
The United States sees the armistice as a practical security arrangement. It wants commercial shipping to move freely, Iranian attacks on vessels to stop, and Tehran’s ability to threaten regional forces to be reduced.
This is why Washington rejects any arrangement that would give Iran influence over which ships may pass through an international waterway.
Tehran sees Hormuz as leverage, not just a transit route
Iran views the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic asset that can be used to raise the cost of pressure against it. Its message is that if Iranian energy exports cannot move securely, then rival energy exports should not be assumed to move without interruption.
Every delayed tanker, higher insurance premium and rerouted vessel turns geography into political pressure.
Both sides think retaliation is necessary for credibility
Each government believes restraint without a response will be read as weakness. Iran thinks it must answer pressure with reciprocal action, while the United States believes failing to retaliate will invite more attacks.
That creates a security dilemma: one side’s effort to restore stability becomes the other side’s reason to strike back.
The June memorandum was too weak to settle the deeper disputes
The June memorandum of understanding was fragile because it relied on ambitious political expectations without strong verification, adjudication or enforcement. It reopened the strait and restarted nuclear talks, but it did not remove disputes over uranium enrichment, American sanctions, regional military deployments or Iran’s claimed authority over maritime passage.
Even the oil-sales concession Washington authorised until August 21 was later revoked after tanker attacks, with the wind-down period shortened to July 17.

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Why do US and Iran fail to agree on armistice goals?

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