Donald Trump has said he has rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the strait of Hormuz within a week and resume nuclear talks in return for the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
âThey made a proposal but I reject it,â the US president told reporters at the White House.
The president was earlier said to be privately sceptical Iran would meet his demands to dismantle its nuclear programme, according to unnamed US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Trump has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms in the US, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, on Friday evening, he published a post on his Truth Social platform with a graphic showing a map with the strait of Hormuz renamed as the âTrump Straitâ.
During a three-hour meeting at the UN general assembly in New York earlier this week, Iran had proposed reopening the strait, which would relieve pressure on global energy markets, and restart talks on its nuclear programme within seven days.
In return, as well as lifting its naval blockade, Iran wants the US to permit the release of some of Iranâs frozen assets, restore the waiver that lifted sanctions on Iranâs oil exports and observe a âceasefire on all frontsâ.
That would involve the US president convincing Israel to end its attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a tall order, and allowing the strait to reopen largely on Iranâs terms, with the new route predominantly going through Iranian waters.
Iranâs foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on Sunday said âour conditions are clear and any move toward reopening the strait of Hormuz is contingent upon these conditions being fulfilledâ.
âWe will not back down from them,â Araghchi said, state broadcaster IRIB reported. âWe have never closed the door to diplomacy or negotiations, but at the same time, we have never backed down from our rights.â
Reports of the rejection came as Iranian state media reported on Saturday morning that the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was on his way back to Tehran from New York.
After a meeting with UN secretary general, AntĂłnio Guterres, Pezeshkian said: âIran has not walked away from the negotiating table, but given past experiences, it no longer trusts the United States.â
Araghchi said on Sunday that the Iranians âsaw the first reaction from the US president, but so far, nothing has been conveyed to us by the mediatorsâ.
âWe are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive positions to us, and we will make a decision based on them,â the foreign minister added.
Earlier, a US official had â said discussions with Iran through mediators were âpositive and constructiveâ and, on Friday, Araghchi, had detailed the proposal to reporters outside the UN security council.
He said the seven-day timeline to open the strait and resume talks could start as soon as the US accepts Iranâs proposal. The initial steps would take about four to five days to complete, the strait would be opened on the sixth day and talks on the nuclear programme would start on the seventh day, he said.
This would include a protocol to allow UN nuclear inspectors back in to look at Iranâs damaged sites and the stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
The US naval blockade is putting intense pressure on the Iranian economy, while the seven-month-old conflict in the region has disrupted oil flows through one of the worldâs most critical shipping lanes and is increasing the cost of living around the globe.
Pezeshkian, in an interview with the CBS show Face the Nation, said Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear programme and other issues, but would not accept âbullying or coercionâ.
âIran is not seeking war, but will defend itself against pressure, threats and attacks,â Pezeshkian said, adding that it had already agreed that âweâre not supposed to develop nuclear weaponsâ.
Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed âto end the war, which began on 28 February with US and Israeli attacks.
Since then the conflict has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands while degrading Iranâs conventional forces and damaging its already ailing economy.
Iran and its allies have retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests. Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq were blamed for a pipeline attack that temporarily took more Saudi oil off the market.
The violence in Yemen has prompted a new humanitarian crisis, the UN childrenâs agency said on Friday, reporting a rise in acute malnutrition among children.
Trump has previously said he was in no rush to reach a deal, even as high oil prices fuel inflation. On the Iranian side, there are questions as to whether the hardliners who dominate the security forces would accept compromises championed by moderates such as Pezeshkian.
Diplomatic efforts surrounding the UN general assembly underscored the global stakes in the conflict.
