Iran insisted today (Sunday) that diplomacy is the only way to resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump announced his rejection of an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stop the fighting.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on social media: “Our conditions are clear, and any step towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz is conditional on meeting these conditions.”
He added: “Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this impasse,” according to what Reuters reported.
Iran had announced a peace proposal last week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying that the proposal had been referred to the American side through Qatari mediators. Trump said yesterday (Saturday) that he rejects the plan, saying that desperation is what drives the Iranians to seek an agreement on the strategic waterway.
Trump told reporters at the White House: “They want to conclude an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately because they are suffering huge losses.”
Despite Trump's public statements, Araqchi stated that the mediators in the talks between the United States and Iran did not officially convey an American rejection of the plan.
Araqchi wrote: “We are waiting for the mediators to convey to us the final views, and we will make a decision based on them.”
The United States imposed an economic blockade on Iran to pressure it to stop its attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which led to a sharp decline in shipping traffic through the Strait, even as Trump repeatedly asserts that the United States controls the waterway.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report Trump's rejection of the Iranian proposal, citing unnamed American officials.
The newspaper added that Trump expressed his doubts undeclared that Iran would meet his demands. He informed his employees that he saw the possibility of launching a new bombing campaign against Tehran after the US midterm elections in November.
An American official had previously stated that discussions with Iran through mediators were “positive and constructive.”
Gadi Eisenkot, the former chief of staff of the Israeli army and the main competitor of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the legislative elections scheduled for October, said that he will not include the United Arab List (Raam) party in a government that he may form, at a time when his party is leading in opinion polls a few weeks before the elections.
According to the Times of Israel, the latest polls indicate that the opposition parties currently outperform Netanyahu's coalition.
Eisenkot said he was working to win 64 to 65 seats for the anti-Netanyahu Zionist bloc, claiming that internal polls indicate that “between 16 percent and 18 percent of our supporters are those who supported the (current) coalition in the previous elections.”
However, Eisenkot's bloc does not currently reach the 61 seats needed to form a majority in the 120-member parliament.
Eisenkot, who heads the Yashar party, told Israel's Channel 12 news that the Ra'am party, led by Arab politician Mansour Abbas, will not join his government because it does not meet the conditions he set, including "supporting compulsory military service, recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, and recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be eliminated."
Eisenkot also strongly criticized Netanyahu for the military campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah, noting that neither group was defeated despite the prime minister's pledges of "total victory." He also said that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump announced his rejection of the proposal submitted by Iran to stop hostilities and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which constituted a new attempt to break the deadlock in efforts aimed at stopping the war that has been ongoing for about seven months.
Trump said at the White House, in response to a question about the Iranian proposal: “I reject the proposal... The Iranians want to conclude an agreement under which they open the strait because they are losing greatly.” He stressed that American forces now control the strait, adding that “huge quantities of oil are currently leaving Hormuz, and last night (Friday) 29 ships left the strait.”
He continued: “The Iranians want to conclude an agreement, and there is nothing wrong with that. I also like making deals, but I reject this proposal.”
Yesterday morning, Trump also posted on his “Truth Social” platform a picture of the Strait of Hormuz, bearing the name “Trump Strait,” shortly after he received the Iranian 7-day proposal.
The American Wall Street Journal quoted American officials as saying that the American President is likely to resume air strikes against Iran after the end of the midterm congressional elections, and that he expressed doubts during closed talks about Iran’s willingness to implement American demands.
The Axios news website also quoted American officials as saying that Washington informed Tehran that it no longer controls the Strait of Hormuz as it did before, and therefore it cannot impose its conditions regarding reopening the Strait.
Axios added that the US administration is “in no hurry” to reach an agreement with Tehran, because it is the one that now controls the strait.
