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World

Iran insists only diplomacy can end US deadlock after Trump rejects Hormuz peace plan

Tehran says US mediators have not officially relayed Trump's rejection of its Hormuz peace proposal, as the Wall Street Journal reports the president privately expects a renewed bombing campaign after the November midterms.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 2 min read

Iran said on Sunday that only diplomacy can resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, pushing back a day after Donald Trump publicly rejected Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on social media. “Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock.”

Araqchi added that the Qatari mediators transmitting the proposal had not yet officially relayed Washington’s rejection: “We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them.”

Trump said on Saturday he had rejected the plan, arguing desperation was driving Tehran: “They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly.”

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the rejection citing unnamed US officials, said Trump was privately sceptical Iran would meet his demands and had told staff he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely after the November US midterm elections. A US official had earlier described the mediator discussions as “positive and constructive”.

Araqchi said on Friday the deal would have triggered a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in regional fighting, and could have opened wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects”, potentially including Iran’s nuclear programme. A senior Iranian official told Reuters Tehran would show no flexibility over its nuclear programme — including uranium enrichment or shipping highly enriched uranium abroad — even if the US accepted the deal. President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Tehran was ready for talks on the nuclear programme and other issues but would not accept “bullying or coercion”.

The seven-month-old conflict, which began with US and Israeli attacks on February 28, has disrupted oil flows through the critical shipping lane and damaged Iran’s already ailing economy, with thousands killed as the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes.

Sources

More on this topic: all World stories

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