Iran Stands by Diplomacy After Trump Rejects Strait of Hormuz Proposal

AP

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi walks from the podium after speaking to the media during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

Iran insisted on Sunday that diplomacy remained the only way to resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected Tehran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt fighting in the region.

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

Iran announced a peace proposal last week at the UN General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans via Qatari mediators. Trump said on Saturday he rejected the plan and argued that desperation was driving the Iranians’ push for an agreement on the key waterway.

"They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Despite Trump's ⁠public statements, mediators facilitating Iran's talks with the United States have not officially relayed a US rejection of the plan, according to Araghchi.

"We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive views to us, and we will make a decision based on them," Araghchi posted.

The US has imposed an economic blockade on Iran to put pressure on Tehran to stop Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which have drastically reduced shipping through the area even as Trump repeatedly asserts that the US controls the waterway.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump had rejected the Iranian proposal, citing unnamed US officials. It said Trump was privately skeptical that Iran would meet his demands and had told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely after the November US midterm elections.

A US official had said earlier that discussions with Iran through mediators were "positive and constructive", according to Reuters.

The Iranians also engaged their Saudi rivals regarding the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the stakes of a seven-month-old conflict that has disrupted oil flows through a critical shipping ‌lane and ⁠taken a toll on the global economy.

Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations on Friday the proposed deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in 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," Araghchi said. If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks "on mutually agreed subjects."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview with the CBS show "Face the Nation", said Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear program 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, adding that it had already agreed that "we're not supposed to develop nuclear weapons".



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