Iran has insisted that diplomacy is the only way to resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected a proposal from Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran’s conditions for reopening the key waterway remained unchanged.
“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he posted on social media. “Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock,” he added.
Iran presented its peace proposal earlier this week at the UN General Assembly in New York. Tehran said it had been passed to the US through Qatari mediators.
Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the proposal, arguing that Iran was seeking an agreement because of the pressure it was under. “They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” he told reporters at the White House.
However, Araghchi said the mediators involved in the US-Iran talks had not formally communicated an American rejection of the proposal. “We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them,” he said.
Hormuz at Centre of Talks
The US has imposed an economic blockade on Iran as it seeks to pressure Tehran to stop attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping through the strategic waterway has fallen sharply, while the conflict has disrupted oil flows and affected the global economy.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had rejected Iran’s proposal, citing unnamed US officials.
The newspaper said Trump was privately sceptical that Iran would meet his demands and had told staff that he considered a renewed bombing campaign likely after the November US midterm elections.
A US official had previously described discussions with Iran through mediators as “positive and constructive”. Araghchi told reporters at the UN on Friday that the proposed agreement would begin a seven-day countdown to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and pausing regional fighting.
“If there is seriousness on the US side to come to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, everything is now prepared,” he said.
If the US agreed, the two sides could then begin wider talks on “mutually agreed subjects”, he added. Those discussions could potentially include Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran Says It Will Not Accept Pressure
US President Trump has said Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. But a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if Washington accepted the peace proposal.
The official said Iran would not make concessions over its rights, including uranium enrichment or shipping its highly enriched uranium out of the country.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with CBS programme Face the Nation that Tehran was ready to discuss its nuclear programme and other issues, but would not accept “bullying or coercion”.
“Iran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,” Pezeshkian said. He added that Iran had already agreed that “we’re not supposed to develop nuclear weapons”.
Conflict Continues Across Region
Previous diplomatic efforts have failed to end the conflict, which began on 28 February with US and Israeli attacks. The war has since alternated between pauses and renewed fighting, killing thousands and damaging Iran’s conventional military capabilities and already weak economy.
Iran and its allies have retaliated across the region. Iran has launched drone and missile attacks against US allies in the Gulf, while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the dispute, with any agreement to reopen the waterway potentially linked to wider negotiations over the conflict and Iran’s nuclear programme.