Iran insisted on Sunday that diplomacy is the only way to resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after U.S. President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt the fighting.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that Iran’s conditions were clear and that any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz would depend on those conditions being met.
He added that only a negotiated solution could help resolve the current impasse.
Iran presented a peace proposal last week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it had been conveyed to the U.S. side through Qatari mediators.
Trump said Saturday that he rejected the proposal, arguing that desperation was driving Iran to seek an agreement over the strategic waterway.
“They want to make a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately because they are suffering tremendous losses,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Despite Trump’s public comments, Araghchi said mediators involved in U.S.-Iran talks had not formally conveyed an American rejection of the proposal.
“We are waiting for the mediators to convey their final views to us, and we will make a decision based on them,” Araghchi said.
The United States has imposed an economic blockade on Iran to pressure it to halt attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which have sharply reduced shipping traffic through the strategic waterway, even as Trump has repeatedly said the United States controls the passage.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Trump’s rejection of the Iranian proposal, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
The newspaper reported that Trump had privately expressed doubts that Iran would meet his demands and had told his staff that he saw a possibility of launching another bombing campaign against Tehran after the U.S. midterm elections in November.
A U.S. official had previously described discussions with Iran through intermediaries as “positive and constructive.”
Conflict Curtails Oil Flows
Iranian officials have also contacted Saudi Arabia over the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the seriousness of the seven-month conflict, which has disrupted oil flows through one of the world’s most important shipping routes and negatively affected the global economy.
Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday that an agreement would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopen the strait and halt fighting in the region.
“If there is seriousness on the U.S. side to reach an agreement and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is ready now,” Araghchi said.
He added that if Washington agrees, the parties to the conflict could begin broader talks “on mutually agreed issues.”
Those discussions could include Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has pledged that Tehran will never obtain a nuclear weapon, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran would not show flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepted its proposed agreement to end the war.
The official said Iran would not make concessions regarding its rights, including uranium enrichment or shipping highly enriched uranium out of the country.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS that Tehran was prepared to hold talks over its nuclear program and other issues but would not accept “bullying or coercion.”
“Iran does not seek war, but it will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,” Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran had already agreed “not to develop nuclear weapons.”
Previous diplomatic efforts to end the war have failed. The conflict began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks and has since alternated between periods of relative calm and renewed strikes. The conflict has killed thousands, weakened Iran’s conventional military forces and inflicted further damage on its already struggling economy.
Iran and its allies have responded by widening the conflict to other parts of the region. Iran, which shares control of the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, has launched drone and missile attacks against U.S. allies in the Gulf, while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Saturday that it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and two drones launched by the Houthis toward the Kingdom.
Source: Reuters
