Iran is shutting down the internet executing prisoners in secret and still hasn’t answered the US peace offer. Patience in Washington is running out.

Developing Iran · Middle East Washington · May 2026

Secretary Rubio says he’s “expecting a response.” US analysts and military voices say the window for diplomacy is closing fast — and some say it was never really open.

The US is waiting for Iran to respond to a peace proposal. Iran, meanwhile, has shut down the internet for its own citizens, is reportedly conducting near-daily secret executions of prisoners, and has been accused of trying to establish an agency to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a move Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “unacceptable” in an interview this week.

This is the backdrop against which diplomacy is supposedly taking place. Rubio said the administration is “expecting a response” from Tehran, expressing hope it could lead to “a serious process of negotiation.” That hope, based on what analysts are saying privately and publicly, is not widely shared.

THE PRESSURE POINTS ON IRAN RIGHT NOW

Economic Internet shutdown costing an estimated $50–65 million per day in economic damage; 5–10 million Iranians who rely on e-commerce now effectively unemployed

Internal Regime conducting near-daily executions in secret, refusing to return bodies to families — rights groups say it’s a response to fear of internal uprising

Military US–Iran exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz this week; Project Freedom operation paused but Trump administration says it may resume

Diplomatic Iran reportedly attempting to establish an agency to control Strait of Hormuz traffic — Rubio calls it “unacceptable”; US awaiting formal response to peace proposal

The negotiation debate: genuine process or wishful thinking?

The fundamental disagreement in Washington right now isn’t really about whether to negotiate — it’s about whether Iran is capable of negotiating in good faith at all. The hawkish view, articulated bluntly by former national security official Steve Yates, is that the US is at a “breaking point” and that continued talks achieve little when the other party doesn’t operate by the same rules. “Renegotiating with whom?” was his pointed question. “They are not negotiating from a place of good faith.”

Yates argued the better course is to focus on core military objectives — securing freedom of navigation through the Strait, degrading Iran’s ability to conduct what he called “pinprick attacks,” and ensuring nuclear capability doesn’t return — rather than extending a diplomatic process that has repeatedly stalled.

Retired General Jack Keane went further, calling for the resumption of Project Freedom and the securing of the Strait of Hormuz — and notably, for giving Israel the freedom to conduct a comprehensive bombing campaign. Keane argued that Israeli airpower capacity in this theatre exceeds what the US has committed, and that it should be used. These are not fringe voices. These are people whose views carry weight in the current policy environment.

The internet shutdown — and what it’s really about

Iran’s decision to shut down the internet is being watched closely by sanctions analysts as both an economic self-wound and a political signal. A former senior sanctions strategist estimated the shutdown is inflicting $50 to $65 million in daily economic damage on Iran’s own economy — at a moment when the regime is already under severe financial strain. Between five and ten million Iranians who depend on internet-based employment are effectively out of work.

The reason the regime is doing it anyway tells you something important: they are more afraid of their own population than of the economic damage. Cutting off communications is a tool of domestic control, deployed historically — in 2019, and in earlier unrest cycles — whenever the regime fears that internal discontent might coalesce into something organised. That they are doing it again now, under current external pressure, suggests the leadership believes the threat from within is as serious as the threat from without.

The executions no one is talking about

Amid the geopolitical noise, a quieter and deeply troubling story has been largely overlooked. The Guardian, citing human rights groups and family sources, reported this week that Iran is conducting near-daily executions of prisoners in secret — in some cases refusing to return the bodies of those killed to their families. The pattern fits the same logic as the internet shutdown: a regime attempting to extinguish dissent before it can organise.

Yates raised this point with visible frustration. “No one is talking about the tens of thousands of people that have died,” he said. “They have made a system out of killing their own population.” The Iranian people — as distinct from the Iranian government — are living under a dual siege: external military and economic pressure from the US, and internal repression from a regime that appears to be tightening its grip precisely because it feels it is losing control.

The diplomatic clock is ticking loudly. Rubio’s comments suggest the administration is giving Iran a short window to respond in a way that justifies continued talks. If that response doesn’t come — or comes in a form that signals bad faith — the pressure inside Washington to resume or escalate military operations will be difficult to contain. The Arab allies who have also been targeted by Iranian-linked attacks have their own capabilities and their own impatience.

The Strait of Hormuz is not just a strategic waterway — roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes through it. Whatever decision the White House makes in the coming days will ripple well beyond the region. The question of whether there’s a negotiating partner on the other side of the table is one the administration can no longer defer.

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains active. This article will be updated as Iran’s formal response to the US proposal becomes available.

Photo by Shaah Shahidh on Unsplash