Iran War Day 33: Trump May Exit Without Opening Hormuz, Iran President Ready to End War, Markets Rally, US Gas Hits $4, Artemis II Launches Tomorrow

Iran War Day 33: Trump May Exit Without Opening Hormuz, Iran President Ready to End War, Markets Rally, US Gas Hits $4, Artemis II Launches Tomorrow

By WorldWire News Desk  ·  April 1, 2026  ·  Verified · Updated 7:00 AM IST

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 — the world woke up to an extraordinary pivot: a Wall Street Journal bombshell revealed President Trump is willing to end the Iran war even if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, sending markets into their biggest single-day rally in weeks. Iran’s president simultaneously signalled readiness to end the war.

US gas prices crossed $4 a gallon. Q1 2026 closed as the stock market’s worst quarter since 2022. The April 6 energy strike deadline is now just five days away. And tomorrow, NASA launches Artemis II — sending four astronauts around the moon for the first time since Apollo 17. Here is the full, verified picture.

$4+US Average Gas Price Per Gallon.4.6%S&P 500 for Q1 2026 — Worst Since 2022.+3.68%Nasdaq Rally on Tuesday.−4.6%S&P 500 for Q1 2026 — Worst Since 2022.DaysUntil Trump’s April 6 Energy Deadline

WSJ Bombshell: Trump Ready to Exit Iran War Without Reopening Hormuz

The single most consequential development overnight was a Wall Street Journal report, confirmed by Fortune and TheStreet, that President Trump told aides he is willing to end the US military campaign against Iran even if the vital Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed — a significant departure from his earlier position that reopening the Strait was a core war aim.

The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not one of the “core objectives” Trump has set for the military campaign. The reversal sent shock waves through the Gulf, where US-allied Arab states have privately implored Washington to continue fighting until Iran’s regime is fully unable to weaponise the Strait.

Simultaneously, Trump took to Truth Social to tell American allies to go secure the Strait themselves: “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.” The remark — laced with characteristic Trump fury at NATO — prompted Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar to urgently request emergency consultations with Washington. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, pushed back publicly on Fox News, saying:

“It’s much more important that this be successfully completed than what the market does. We should all hope that we win this thing and clean up the straits.” Bloomberg confirms that US stock futures jumped sharply on the WSJ report as investors priced in de-escalation.

“We should all hope that we win this thing and clean up the straits and that Iran is no longer a threat to everybody.” — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Fox News, March 31, 2026

Iran’s President Says He Is Ready to End the War

In a stunning near-simultaneous signal from Tehran, Bloomberg reports that Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media he is ready to end the war with the United States — the most direct public statement of openness to ending hostilities from any senior Iranian official since the war began on February 28.

The announcement caused US stock futures to surge in afternoon trading on Tuesday. However, analysts caution that Iran’s conditions — including war reparations, sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, and an immediate halt to assassinations of its officials — remain far from what the US is willing to accept. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the coming days of the conflict would be “decisive,” noting that Iran launched fewer projectiles in the past 24 hours than at any point during the war — suggesting Tehran may be conserving missiles ahead of potential talks.

Despite the diplomatic signals, CNN reports that Iran simultaneously tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s ground forces commander vowed that any American ground invasion would be met with “unwavering” resistance on “every inch of Iranian territory.” The contradiction — peace signals and military posturing — mirrors the pattern of the past five weeks of this war.

US Gas Crosses $4 a Gallon — Worst Quarter for Markets Since 2022

Tuesday also marked a painful economic milestone. CNN and NBC News both confirmed that the average price of gasoline in the United States crossed $4 per gallon on Tuesday — up more than a dollar from $2.98 on February 27, the day before the war began. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil posted its largest monthly percentage increase ever in March — rising more than 60% in a single month. West Texas Intermediate crude climbed more than 50% — its biggest one-month gain since 2020.

Tuesday also closed the books on Q1 2026 — and it was brutal. NBC News reports the S&P 500 dropped 4.6% for the quarter — its worst quarterly performance since Q1 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked global markets. The Nasdaq declined 7.1% for the quarter. Energy stocks were the outlier.

Exxon Mobil posted its largest quarterly gain ever, while Occidental Petroleum and Valero Energy also surged. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned this week that oil could hit $150 and cause a global recession if Iran remains a threat to Hormuz after the war ends. Oxford Economics cut its global industrial growth forecast to 2.5% for 2026, warning that energy-intensive sectors face severe cost spikes.

Markets Stage Biggest Rally in Weeks on De-escalation Hope

Despite the grim quarterly picture, Tuesday’s single-day trading was a dramatic reversal. TheStreet reports the Nasdaq surged 3.68%, the S&P 500 climbed 2.67%, and the Dow rose 2.24% — the largest single-day rally in weeks — as investors reacted to the twin signals of Trump’s exit willingness and Iran’s presidential peace statement.

Biotech stocks also surged on separate M&A news: Biogen announced a $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, and Eli Lilly announced it would acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals for up to $7.8 billion. Pharmaceutical M&A activity added fuel to the broader rally. However, Fortune cautioned that the rally may be a temporary “relief rally” rather than genuine de-escalation — as Iran simultaneously tightened its grip on the Strait and West Texas Intermediate still sits at $103 per barrel.

Trump Tells Allies: “Go Get Your Own Oil” — Hegseth Says Coming Days “Decisive”

NPR reports that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said reopening the Strait of Hormuz is “not just a US problem set” — echoing Trump’s social media post urging allies to “go to the Strait and just TAKE IT.” Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen.

Dan Caine held a joint press conference Tuesday in which Hegseth described the coming days as “decisive,” pointing to a significant reduction in Iran’s missile and drone launch rate as evidence that Iran’s military capacity is eroding. However, analysts note that a reduced launch rate does not necessarily mean Iran is weakening — it may be conserving its remaining missile stocks strategically, waiting to see whether the April 6 deadline produces a deal or a new round of strikes on its energy infrastructure.

NASA’s Artemis II Launches Tomorrow — Humans Return to the Moon

Against the backdrop of war, a historic mission of peace and exploration is about to launch. NPR reports that NASA’s Artemis II mission will launch on Wednesday, April 2 — sending four astronauts on a journey around the Moon, farther into space than any human has travelled since Apollo 17 in 1972. The crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will circle the Moon without landing, in a crucial rehearsal for the Artemis III crewed lunar landing mission planned for 2027.

The launch will take place from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Purdue University professor Briony Horgan told NPR the mission represents “the first time humans have left Earth’s immediate vicinity in more than half a century.”

Iran’s 5-Point Counter to US Peace Plan — Sovereignty Over Hormuz

PBS NewsHour and CNBC have both published Iran’s full five-point counterproposal to the US 15-point peace plan. Iran’s demands are: a complete and immediate halt to “aggression and assassinations” by the US and Israel; the establishment of concrete mechanisms to ensure the war is not reimposed; full war reparations for destruction inflicted; a permanent end to all hostilities; and — most controversially — Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

That last demand is almost certainly a non-starter for Washington, which views the Strait as an international waterway. Trump himself floated joint US-Iran control of the Strait last week, but that idea was immediately rejected by Tehran. The two sides remain far apart — but for the first time since the war began, both are at least talking about conditions for ending it.

Worst Quarter for Hegseth’s Pentagon — 13 Killed, 300+ Wounded

As Q1 2026 closes, the human cost to the US military stands at 13 service members killed and more than 300 wounded — the heaviest American combat casualties in any quarter since the peak of the Iraq War. Washington Times notes that the Iran war is now shaping up to be more economically damaging to the United States than any conflict since the 2003 Iraq invasion — not primarily through military spending, but through the energy price shock rippling across every sector of the American economy.

With the April 6 deadline five days away, Trump’s next move — end the war, escalate to energy plant strikes, or accept a ceasefire on terms far short of his original demands — will define the trajectory of the global economy for months to come.

As April begins, the world teeters on the edge of an inflection point — diplomatic, military and economic simultaneously. The Iran war’s first month ends with more questions than answers. But tonight, as the USS Gerald R. Ford continues strike operations and four brave astronauts prepare to leave Earth, humanity is reminded that even in its darkest hours, it still reaches for the stars. Stay with WorldWire for live updates through the day.

Sources

FortuneBloombergTheStreetCNNNBC NewsNPRNBC LivePBS NewsHourCNBCWashington TimesReutersAl Jazeera

All reporting verified from Fortune, Bloomberg, CNN, NBC, NPR, PBS, CNBC, TheStreet, Washington Times & Reuters · April 1, 2026

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